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LAST  DAYS 


The  Republic 


By  p.  W.  DOONER. 


"She  sighted,  afar,  the  foam  of  the  maelstrom,  and  tossed  her  haughty 
pennants  in  sovereign  disdain  of  its  power.  But  its  current  was  around  her, 
and  she  glided  noiselessly  to  her  doom." 


Illustrated  by  G.  F.  Keller. 


SAN  FRAN'CISCO: 
ALTA  CALIFORNIA  PUBLISHING  HOUSE, 


Copyrighted,  1879, 
By  PIERTON  W.  DOONER. 


2r  '^^ 


&j 


PREFACE. 


The  reader  will  bear  in  mind  that  this  history  is  written  for 
the  Twentieth,  and  not  for  the  Nineteenth  Century.  It  details, 
however,  the  events  in  which  we  now,  and  will  continue  to, 
have  an  active  interest.  But  the  present  generation  must, 
in  the  ordinary  course  of  nature,  pass  into  the  grave  before  the 
curtain  shall  have  fallen  upon  the  last  act  of  this  national  drama. 

It  will,  doubtless,  be  objected  to  this  work  that  it  is,  in  part, 
mere  speculation;  and  it  will,  further,  be  urged  that  it  is  absurd 
in  presupposing  the  possibility  of  a  condition  of  aifairs  so 
extreme  as  that  foreshadowed  in  its  pages;  but  I  have  only  to 
say,  in  explanation,  that  I  am  not  responsible  for  the  result  any 
more  than  I  should  be  for  the  product  of  the  multiplication  of 
two  given  numbers.  In  the  one  case,  the  numbers  are  submit- 
ted to  the  process  of  multiplication  according  to  the  rules  of 
arithmetic,  and  a  third,  or  additional  number,  is  produced.  It 
would  be  folly  to  quarrel  with  this  result.  In  the  second  case, 
the  data  of  thirty  years  of  observation  and  experiment  have  been 
taken  and  submitted  to  a  deductive  examination — multiplied,  as 
it  were,  by  the  hopes,  the  fears,  the  experience,  the  passions  and 
prejudices  of  men,  as  well  as  by  the  example  of  history,  and  I 
am  compelled  to  abide  the  result. 

That  I  am  not  satisfied  with  this,  must  be  obvious;  but  I  can 
no  more  conscientiously  change  it  in  any  particular,  without 
discovering  some  plain  mistake  in  the  data  upon  which  it  is 
based,  than  I  could  change  a  figure  in  the  product  of  my  multi- 


4  PREFACE. 

plication   example,  without  discovering  that  I  had  mistaken  a 
digit  in  one  of  the  given  numbers. 

If,  therefore,  that  very  enterprising  "  failure  "  known  as  the 
Book  Critic  should  wish  to  deal  with  the  inevitable,  I  should 
reasonably  look  on  with  unconcern;  but  it  is  requested  to  under- 
stand, now,  and  for  all  time,  that,  in  this  matter,  I  am  out  of  the. 
controversy.  I  have  simply  done  my  duty  in  a  matter  of  deduc- 
tive research,  and  submit  the  result  of  my  labors — hoping, 
meanwhile,  that  some  timely  act  of  administrative  foresight  may 
avert  the  impending  catastrophe,  which,  at  this  period,  menaces 
not  only  our  civilization,  but,  indeed,  our  very  existence  as  one 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 
Introductory.  . . , 9 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Golden  Age  in  California J.  W.  Marshall  and  General  Sutter 

Early    Immigration From     Chaos    to    Government 

Crimes   and   Penalties The  Advent  of  the  Coolies Early 

Intercourse   of  the    Races Visions    of  Conquest Pursuits 

and  Occupations II 

CHAPTER  II. 

Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Race  Conflict The   Political   Faith  of 

China Her  Traditions  of  Universal  Dominion Character- 
istics of  her  Plan  of  Government Her  Population She  en- 
courages   Emigration Rc-arrangement    of  her   Treaties 

Burlingame  becomes  a  Dupe The  Six  Chinese  Companies 

The  Question  of  Labor Trouble    Brewing The    Rise    of 

Monopolies Labor  Combinations Crash  in  Values Con- 
gress Considers  the  Situation Dry  Facts  about  Political  Par- 
ties  New    England's   Propagandism California  makes   a 

Constitution The  People  and  the  Corporations 20 

CHAPTER   III. 

Chinese  Immigration  and  Immigrants The  White  Laborers  become 

Restive Intrigues  of  the  Imperial  Government Status   of 

the  Immigrant Agency  of  the  Chinese  Companies Sew- 
ard falls  into  the  Little  Trap  set  by  Wein-Siang Induce- 
ments that  Suggested  Conquest Statesmanship  Defined  and 

Illustrated Authority  of  the  Companies Legal  Technical- 
ities  The  Dead  Coolie Master   and   Slave Mongolian 

Theology 49 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Pag^ 

Partisan  Strife  and  Sectional  Antagonism The  Growth  and  Decay 

of  Governments Republics  and   Monarchies  Contrasted 

What  Washington   knew    about  Parties Reconstruction 

Decay   of  Independent    Thought Public    Extravagance 

Chartered    Rights   Construed Fragmentary  Demoralization 

The  Judicial  System Respectable  Felony Political 

Economy 65 

CHAPTER  V. 

Immigration  becomes   Invasion A  Deductive   History Cause 

and  Effect The  Attitude  of  all  Parties The  Masses  become 

Threatening  and  Defiant The  Coolies  make  Preparations 

Legislation  under  California's  New  Constitution A  grain  of 

Consolation The  plan  of  Colonization New  England  and 

the  South  invite  the  Coolie Causes  affecting  Population 

Platforms   and   Platitudes Institutions  that  begin  to  Topple 

The  Coolie  strikes  for  Civil  Rights 85 

CHAPTER  VI. 

March  of  the  Conquest The  People  invoke  Legislation Mod- 
ification of  the  Naturalization  Laws Trans-Pacific  Intrigues 

Chinese  Citizenship The  Federal  Courts  on  the  Califor- 
nia   Constitution The    Li^boring  Element    in  Arms First 

Battle   of  the   Revolution Statesmanship  of   the  Period 

Coolie  Ascendancy Trade    with    the   East Mandarins   in 

Congress The  Coolie  at  the  South lOl 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Labor  on  the  Rampage The  Chinese  control  the  Railroads A 

Social  Suggestion The  Sum  of  Partisan  Virtue Southern 

Estimates  of  the  Coolie The  Rise  of  Classes The  Negro 

Exodus The  Coolie  settles  in  New  England  and  breeds  Dis- 
tress  The  Morals  of  New  England    Suffer Her  Peace   is 

Disturbed She  seeks  to  Repudiate  the  Coolie  and  Fails 

Her  Moral  Refiections Her  Political  Reflections Beneath 

the  Surface 124 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Chinese  Empire Birth  of  a  new  Civilization Rise   of  the 

Military  Spirit The  National  Armament Commercial  Su- 
premacy in  Asia The  Arts  and  Sciences She  aims  at  the 


CONTENTS.  7 

Page. 

Dominion  of  the  High  Seas England  and  Hongkong Con- 
quest of  Farther  India China  becomes  the  Dictator  of  Asia 

She  clings  to  her  Traditions Speculations  in  the  Realm 

of  Conquest Preparations  for  the   Struggle Mandarins  in 

American  Politics The  Discovery 145 

CHAPTER  IX. 

American  Society Extremes  of  Luxury  and  Squalor Some  Re- 
flections upon  Human  Nature Class  Attributes Obstacles 

to  Race  Assimilation Natural  Laws  of  Society  become  Inop- 
erative  Sectional  Conditions The   Coolie   and  the  Negro 

Subversion  at    the  South Mongolians   in   Office The 

Militia,  Old  and  New Mongolian  Obtuseness Race  Com- 
parisons  Administrative  Infidelity 164 

CHAPTER  X. 

A  Picture  that  became  a  Reality Further  Political  Victories  at  the 

South South  Carolina  is  Vanquished  and  Forces  a  Crisis 

Preparations   for  War The   Whole   South   in   Arms The 

Coolies  Equal    to   the   Occasion Factions The  Battle   of 

Charleston Events  that  Followed The  Mongolians   raise 

the  Standard   of  China The  Viceroy  of  America A  War 

of  Conquest The  Struggle  Inaugurated 185 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Equipment  of  the  Hostile  Forces Trans-Pacific  Co-operation 

Arrival  of  the  Chinese  Fleet Naval  Engagement Impor- 
tation of  Troops  and  Munitions  of  War The  Atlantic  Coast 

Conquest   of  the   Pacific    States Prevailing   Laws,    etc., 

Abolished The  Imperial  Edict 210 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Americans  and  Europeans,  from  an  Asiatic  Stand-point Intrigue 

against  European  Intervention Russia  and  England  in  Cen- 
tral Asia The  Struggle  Transferred  to  Europe The  East- 
em    Question Austria    and    Germany The     "Plains    of 

Mursa" Small  Causes  and  Great  Effects The  Balance  of 

Power France Another  Bonaparte A  Mexican  Revolu- 
tion Analyzed How  the  South  American  Republics  Fight. .  .   220 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Page. 

Army  Characteristics The  Struggle  for  Existence Glory  and 

Gold Mongolian  Reverses Supplies  begin  to  Fail Neg- 
ative Success Practical  Infinitude The  Boundaries  of  Free- 
dom  The  Spirit  of  Colonial  Days The  Women  of  Amer- 
ica  Famine Material   Exhaustion 223 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

National  and  Army  Diet War  and  Agriculture  at  the  South 

Occupations   of  American    Prisoners   of    War The    Chinese 

Army  in  New  England The  Beginning  of  the  End The 

First  Mongolian  Victory- Pillage March  of  the  Conqueror 

Washington  in  Danger The  Soldier's  Reflection The 

last  Stronghold 245 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  New  Government An  Imperial  Edict Mongolian  Conser- 
vatism  Aid  to  the  Suff^-rers The  Last  Combat A  Pro- 
gramme that  Failed  of  Execution The  Western  Empire 

Farewell  Reflections The  End  , 253 


INTRODUCTORY. 


In  picturing  the  condition  of  the  American  continent  toward 
the  close  of  the  Nineteenth,  or  about  the  beginning  of  the 
Twentieth  Century,  a.  d.,  it  will  be  necessary,  to  the  intelligent 
appreciation  of  the  apparently  incredible  order  of  events  at  that 
time  to  be  established,  that  we  trace  the  causes  which  must 
superinduce  this  change,  and  lay  them,  in  their  order,  before  the 
reader.  To  faithfully  carry  out  this  historical  scheme  is  the  aim 
of  the  present  work. 

The  State  of  California  will  figure  somewhat  conspicuously  in 
these  pages,  but  this  is  owing  entirely  to  the  fact  that  she  is  the 
member  of  our  national  political  organization  into  which  has 
been  injected  the  poison  that  is  slowly  corroding  the  vital  prin- 
ciple of  our  national  life.  This  wounded  member  being  the 
first  to  taste  the  agonies  of  impending  death,  was  also  the  first 
to  give  intimation,  by  the  unnatural  discord  of  her  internal 
affairs,  of  the  terrible  disease  that  had  fastened  its  grasp  upon 
the  vitals  of  the  whole  governmental  structure. 

The  logic  of  these  deductions,  considered  in  the  abstract, 
will,  of  course,  be  omitted.  .  It  would  be  of  but  little  interest  to 
the  average  reader,  nor,  in  fact,  would  a  purely  metaphysical 
dissertation  be  appropriately  located  as  a  part  of  a  purely  his- 
torical work.  It  is  sufficient  for  the  author's  aims  and  purposes 
ihat  the  conclusions  arrived  at  be  stated  with  sufficient  clearness 
and  detail  to  enable  the  counir)'  to  see  the  necessity  of  taking 
measures  to  arrest  the  disease,  before  the  power  so  to  do  shall 
have  passed,  forever,  beyond  the  reach  of  political  regeneration. 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Golden  Age  in  California J.  W.  Marshall  and  General 

Sutter ^Early  Immigration From  Chaos  to  Government 

Crimes  and  Penalties The  Advent  of  the  Coolies 

Early  Intercourse  of  the  Races Visions  of  Conquest 

Pursuits  and  Occupations. 

This  history  begins  with  the  birth  of  a  new  era 
in  American  enterprise,  when,  in  the  first  month 
of  the  year  1 848,  an  obscure  workman  looked  with 
unfeigned  incredulity  upon  a  stratum  of  shining 
gravel  and  sand,  laid  bare  by  the  waters  of  the 
American  river.  It  might  be  gold  ;  but  the  sup- 
position was  too  extreme  for  the  credulity  of  even 
the  simple-minded  millwright,  J.  W.  MarshalL 
The  broader  experience  of  his  employer,  General 
Sutter,  was  necessary  to  pass  upon  the  nature  of 
the  discovery  ;  and  his  verdict  settled  the  class- 
ification of  the  mysterious  samples  produced  by 
Marshall.     They  were  gold. 

How  it  happened  that,  at  this  stage,  the  cool- 
headed  business  man  and  pioneer  speculator 
escaped  the  fever  which,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century 


12  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

afterwards,  seized  upon  and  possessed  the  minds 
and  faculties  of  the  adventurous,  not  only  in  every 
part  of  the  American  Union,  but  also  in  every 
centre  of  population  throughout  the  globe,  is  a 
matter  of  considerable  speculative  curiosity,  how- 
ever much  it  may  lack  the  element  of  historical 
interest. 

Notwithstanding  the  difficulties  which  beset  the 
traveler,  at  that  period  in  the  history  of  California, 
through  the  very  imperfect  system  of  transporta- 
tion then  employed,  and  the  dangers  which  lurked 
around  the  pathway,  whether  by  land  or  by  sea, 
that  lies  between  this  El  Dorado  and  the  centres 
of  civilization,  the  following  year  (1849)  witnessed 
an  immigration  to  California  which  stands  without 
a  parallel  in  the  history  of  any  other  common- 
wealth, or  of  any  other  people. 

The  report,  that  men  were  gathering  sacks  of 
gold  among  the  mountains  of  California,  was  wafted 
to  the  bounds  of  the  civilized  world  ;  and  the 
avarice  of  mankind  responded  to  the  implied  invi- 
tation to  come  forward  and  participate  in  the 
bounty  of  the  earth.  Young  America  surcharged 
with  oozing  ambition  was  greedy  to  seize  upon  her 
recent  acquisition  and  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  con- 
quest. First  upon  the  scene,  her  vanguard  spread 
themselves  over  the  mountains,  taking  only  the 
choicest  gifts  of  their  golden  offerings.  Next,  the 
slumbering  Spaniards  of  the  New  World  aroused 
themselves  from  their  wonted  lethargy  and  poured 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  1 3 

into  this  fabled  territory  ;  after  which  the  subdued 
spirts  of  monarchical  Europe  drifted  upon  the  scene. 

Incongruous,  indeed,  was  the  human  admixture 
that  now,  for  a  decade,  continued  to  flow  into 
California  ;  and  whether  through  the  individuals 
themselves,  or  through  the  opinions  which  they 
entertained,  every  civilized  people,  as  well  as  every 
sentiment  of  civilized  government,  the  world  over, 
was  soon  represented.  The  tendency  to  organiza- 
tion and  assimilation  inherent  in  the  Caucasian 
race,  here  as  elsewhere  soon  asserted  itself,  and  its 
representatives,  although  gathered  from  three  con- 
tinents readily  adopted  a  common  view  of  the 
situation. 

Some  form  of  social  and  political  organization 
had  become  a  necessity  for  the  protection  of  life 
and  property,  pending  the  organization  of  a  state 
government,  and  the  yet  more  dilatory  operation 
of  giving  direction  to  its  requirements.  As  the 
machinery  of  courts  of  justice  were  an  impossi- 
bility in  the  interim,  and  the  Spanish  law,  besides 
being  imperfectly  understood,  was  unable  to  cope 
with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  the  whole  people 
seemed,  as  if  by  tacit  consent,  to  lix  upon  certain 
principles  of  natural  law  and  vigorous  justice,  by 
which  every  man  should  be  arrayed  against  every 
individual  who  should  improperly  interfere  with 
the  riofhts  of  others. 

The  commonest  offences,  many  of  which  do  not 
now  rise  up  to  the  dignity  of  felony,  were  punish- 


14         LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

able  with  death.  In  fact  the  penalty  inflicted,  from 
time  to  time,  depended  as  much  upon  the  temper 
of  the  particular  mob,  executing  the  law,  in  each 
particular  case,  as  it  did  upon  the  gravity  of  the 
offence  charged ;  and  very  often  the  whispered 
reputation  of  the  prisoner  in  the  community  was 
the  weight  which  turned  the  balance  for,  or  against, 
the  forfeiture  of  his  life. 

The  unanimity  of  sentiment  by  which  the  man- 
dates of  the  mob  were  generally  carried  into  ex- 
ecution cannot  fail  to  stamp  with  some  measure  of 
justification  the  rigor  of  the  measures  adopted  for 
the  public  safety.  At  this  day,  the  men  who  com- 
prised a  part  of  that  primitive  community  and 
who  have,  certainly,  had  the  best  opportunity  of 
judging  of  the  expediency  of  those  measures,  are 
the  last  to  condemn  them ;  and  are  almost  unani- 
mous in  the  position  that  milder  measures  would 
have  failed  of  all  usefulness. 

In  another  view  of  the  times,  this  severity  was 
a  necessity,  to  protect  the  industrious  classes. 
The  peculiar  character  of  the  immigration  setting 
into  California,  could  not  fail  to  bringf  toofether  a 
very  large  proportion  of  the  criminal  classes  of  the 
places  whence  they  had  come.  Initiated  into  crime 
among  scenes  of  comparative  restraint,  these  were 
disposed  to  give  full  play  to  their  vicious  instincts 
upon  this  lawless  frontier,  and  only  the  terrors  of 
lynch  law  and  the  gibbet  could,  in  any  measure, 
have  restrained  the  dominant  violence  of  a  very 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  ^5 

large  proportion  of  the  population.  The  system 
of  summary  punishment  thus  estabhshed  not  only 
checked  the  vicious  tendency  of  the  criminal  class, 
but  also  left  its  impress  upon  the  criminal  juris- 
prudence of  the  State,  which,  in  a  modified  form, 
has  continued  down  to  the  present  day. 

Amono-  the  immio^rants  that  flowed  into  Call- 
fornia  soon  after  the  discovery  of  gold  among  her 
mountains,  was  a  people  heretofore  practically  un- 
known upon  the  American  continent.  Differing 
in  manners,  dress,  habits  of  life,  religion  and  educa- 
tion, and  widely  in  their  physical  aspect,  as  well 
as  in  their  physical  requirements,  from  all  others, 
they  were  also  incapable  of  assimilation,  or  of 
social  intercommunication ;  nor  did  they  manifest 
the  slightest  tendency  or  disposition  to  court  a 
closer  relationship  with  their  fellow  pioneers. 

Servile  to  the  last  degree,  they  seemed  to  be  a 
people  ordained  by  nature  to  be  the  servants  of  all 
mankind.  Eminently  peaceful,  industrious  and  law- 
abidino-,  as  well  as  shrewd  in  business  intercourse, 
but  not  strictly  honest,  and  terribly  avaricious,  they 
submitted  to  authority  sometimes  with  apparent 
reluctance,  but  seldom  or  never  offered  anything 
assimilating  to  violent  opposition.  They  seemed 
to  have  gathered  from  their  intercourse  with  their 
more  aesressive  neiorhbors,  that  passive  submis- 
sion  to  all  established  authority  was  the  condition 
of  their  toleration,  and  to  have  accepted  the  terms 
without  stopping  to  inquire  how  far  the  authority 


1 6  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

exercised  mieht  be  established  or  authorized. 
They  were,  thus,  soon  subjected  to  every  species 
of  imposition  and  extortion.  Self-appointed  tax 
collectors  visited  their  camps,  weekly,  and,  indeed, 
often  daily,  to  collect  from  them  that  which  they 
were  given  to  understand  were  the  revenues  of 
the  State. 

The  system,  perhaps  not  differing  very  widely 
from  that  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed  at 
home,  did  not  excite  their  suspicions  until  the 
success  of  the  swindle  had  challenged  the  admira- 
tion of  too  many  adventurers,  who  discovered  an 
inexpensive  method  of  providing  themselves  with 
the  means  of  indulging  their  various  lawless  pur- 
suits. The  inordinate  frequency  of  tax  collections 
at  length  led  to  inquiry,  and  consequent  enlight- 
enment, upon  this  one  point  of  imposition. 

Many  and  various  were  the  schemes  of  extortion 
from  these  plodding  disciples  of  labor  that  were 
resorted  to,  with  greater  or  less  success  on  the 
part  of  the  adventurer  ;  but  in  many  instances  even 
pretence  was  abandoned  to  give  place  to  open 
violence,  in  which  they  were  made  the  victims  of 
undisguised  robbery.  As  a  class,  they  were  out- 
side the  social  compact ;  and  the  engines  of  justice, 
which  were  ever  ready  to  punish  any  infringement 
of  the  rights  of  others  than  them,  propelled  no 
agency  for  their  redress  or  protection. 

The  reader  who  has  visited  the  Pacific  Coast 
will  have  readily  recognized  in  this  description  the 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  I  7 

subjects  of  the  Chinese  Empire.  Suspicious  by 
nature  and  with  that  characteristic  quickened  into 
a  lively  instinct  by  the  peculiarities  of  his  training 
and  education,  the  Mongolian  had  no  sooner  dis- 
covered the  artifice  to  which  he  had  been  subjected, 
than  did  his  mind  conceive  that  all  absorbin<if 
distrust,  which  has  ever  since  maintained  the  as- 
cendant in  his  estimate  of  the  American  character. 
It  is  possible,  however,  that  this  spirit  is  but 
another  form  of  the  race,  or  national  jealousy, 
which,  for  so  many  centuries,  isolated  the  Chinese 
Empire  from  the  intercourse  of  nations  ;  and  that 
under  the  most  considerate  treatment  in  California, 
the  same  want  of  confidence  would,  still,  have 
characterized  this  people.  But  it  is,  nevertheless, 
true,  that  the  local  prejudice  entertained  by  the 
Chinese  immigrants  to  California,  against  its  Cau- 
casian population,  was  nurtured  by  the  abuses  to 
which  their  pioneers  were  subjected. 

This  unwholesome  spirit,  seconded  by  a  con- 
suming avarice,  and  directed  by  a  most  incredible 
cunnincf,  laid  the  foundation  of  a  scheme  of  con- 
quest  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  the  human  race. 
A  bold  ambitious  desire,  coupled  with  a  deeply- 
rooted  conviction  of  their  ability  to  possess  alone, 
and  undivided,  a  land  so  admirably  adapted  by 
nature  to  their  habits  of  life,  and  so  intimately 
connected  with  the  mother  country  for  the  pur- 
poses of  commerce,  seemed,  at  this  time,  to  have 

^  9. 


1 8  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

first  taken  possession  of  the  minds  of  their  promi- 
nent men. 

Suddenly  there  sprang  up  among  the  Mongol- 
ian residents  of  the  Pacific  Coast  a  desire  for 
material  independence  and  the  possession  of 
landed  estate.  This  was  rapidly  followed  by  a 
most  elaborate  immigration  scheme — a  scheme 
which,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  swelled  the 
Mongolian  population  of  the  Pacific  States  and 
Territories  from  a  few  thousand  to  more  than  one 
hundred  thousand  souls. 

The  methods  employed  to  secure  this  immi- 
gration will  properly  belong  to  a  subsequent  chap- 
ter. 

Heretofore  these  people  had  applied  themselves 
mainly  to  the  lowest  and  most  servile  occupations, 
but  soon  there  arose  amonof  them  the  new  desire 
to  become  artisans,  and  all  became  anxious  to 
acquire  the  rudiments  of  an  English  education. 
With  the  bare  exception  of  their  physicians  ( whose 
practice  consisted  principally  of  exorcism  and  the 
prescription  of  various  insects,  appropriately  pre- 
pared, for  internal  use,  as  a  treatment  of  specific 
diseases),  and  their  priests,  there  were  among  them 
neither  professional  nor  trades-people ;  yet  their 
capacity  for  acquiring  trades  was  as  remarkable 
as  their  industry  and  indomitable  perseverance. 
They  soon  learned  to  apply  the  craft  of  the  shoe- 
maker, the  carpenter,  the  cabinet-maker,  the  brick- 
layer and   others — and   with    so   much   skill  and 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         IQ 

dexterity  as  to  seriously  imperil  the  continuance 
of  these  pursuits  in  the  hands  of  those  of  the 
white  population  who  had  made  them  the  means 
of  a  livelihood ;  while  those  who  had  devoted 
themselves  to  the  object  of  acquiring  an  English 
education  were  hardly  less  successful. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Race  Conflict 'The  Political  Faith 

OF  China Her  Traditions  of  Universal  Dominion -Char- 
acteristics OF  Her  Plan  of  Government Extent  of  Her 

Population She  Encourages  Emigration Re-arrange- 
ment of  Her  Treaties Burlingame  becomes  a  Dupe The 

Six  Chinese  Companies The  Question  of  Labor Trouble 

Brewing The  Rise  of  Monopolies Labor  Combinations 

Crash  in  Values Congress  Considers  the  Situation 

Dry  Facts  about  Political  Parties New  England's  Pro- 

PAGANDisM California  makes  a  Constitution The  People 

AND  the  Corporations. 

The  reports  which,  following  the  treaty  of  1858, 
continued  to  reach  China,  of  the  vast  natural 
wealth  of  California  coupled  with  the  further  con- 
sideration that  her  geographical  position  placed 
her,  in  contemplation  of  commerical  comity,  at  the 
very  doorway  of  China,  made  a  deep  impression 
upon  the  minds  of  the  great  statesmen  who,  at 
that  period,  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  Empire. 
Subsequent  events  only  tended  to  intensify  this 
spirit  of  inquiry  and  investigation,  until,  in  1865, 
a  corps  of  observation  was  sent  out  by  the  central 
government  to  see  and  report  upon  the  resources 
of  California. 

The  secret  nature  of  this  measure  and  the 
assumed  private  character  of  the  visitors,  shielded 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  2  1 

them  at  once  from  public  observation  as  well  as 
suspicion ;  and  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  that 
any  reference  to  this  commission  (for  such  it  really 
was)  has  ever  been  made  in  the  correspondence 
between  the  two  governments.  In  due  time  the 
report  of  this  commission  was  laid  before  the 
Imperial  government,  and  was  found  to  be  con- 
firmatory of  the  most  favorable  reports  theretofore 
circulated  ;  and,  in  short,  it  proved  satisfactory,  in 
every  particular. 

The  traditions  and  the  policy  of  China  teach  and 
require  that  she  shall  aim  to  rule  the  whole  world; 
and  she  has  been  awaiting  the  march  of  events  to 
initiate,  by  appropriate  signs,  the  era  of  her  con- 
quests. If  there  are  those  who  doubt  that  such 
is,  indeed,  the  conviction  of  the  Chinese  people, 
and  hence  the  policy  of  the  Empire,  all  such 
are  referred  to  the  international  correspondence 
between  that  government  and  our  own.  This 
sino-ular  hallucination  breathes  throuorhout  almost 
every  state  paper  issued  under  the  authority  of  the 
Emperor. 

For  particular  instances,  for  such  of  my  readers 
as  might  not  be  satisfied  with  this  generalization, 
or  as  may  lack  the  facilities  for  a  personal  investi- 
gation of  the  subject,  I  will  refer  to  the  missive 
from  the  Emperor  of  China  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  dated  January  7,  1858,  which 
proceeds  as  follows  :  "I,  the  august  Emperor,  wish 
health    to    the    President    of   the   United   States. 


2  2  LAST   DAYS   OF   THE    REPUBLIC. 

Having  received  with  profound  respect  the  com- 
mand of  Heaven  to  sway  with  tender  care  the 
entire  circuit  of  all  lands,  I  regard  the  people  every- 
where, within  and  without  the  wide  seas,  with  the 
same  humane  benevolence,"  etc. 

And,  again,  in  his  missive  of  January  23,  1863, 
the  business  of  state  is  introduced  in  the  following 
manner  :  "In  virtue  of  the  commission  we  have 
received,  with  awe,  from  Heaven  to  rule  all  the 
world,  natives  and  foreigners  must  be  to  us  as  one 
family,"  etc. 

By  these  and  similar  expressions  everywhere 
occurring  throughout  the  state  correspondence  of 
China,  the  tendency  of  that  people  is  made  clearly 
manifest.  To  Rule  the  World,  is  a  dogma,  a  creed, 
a  holy  tradition  of  China  and  the  middle  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century  combined  the  circumstances 
that  promised  the  realization  of  this  national  dream 
— a  tradition  that  was  hoary  with  the  frosts  of  cen- 
turies ere  yet  the  "Mistress  of  the  World"  had 
traced  the  foundation  marks  of  her  imperishable 
structure  upon  the  banks  of  the  Tiber. 

The  oldest  as  well  as  the  richest  country  of  the 
Gflobe,  she  was  also  the  first  and  most  advanced  in 
the  exercise  of  political  economy,  and  hence  in  the 
science  of  government.  This  is  made  manifest  by 
the  vast  population  she  sustains,  considered  in 
connection  with  the  extent  of  her  territory  ;  for  no 
other  government,  whether  of  ancient  or  modern 
Limes,  has   ever   succeeded   in   maintaining,  in   a 


LAST    DAYS   OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  23 

condition  of  prosperity  and  peace,  a  population  so 
immense  upon  a  like  extent  of  territory — large, 
though  it  is.  And  if  the  peace,  protection  and 
prosperity  of  a  people  are  an  indication  of  good 
government,  then  the  government  of  China  stands 
vindicated.  Of  the  pacific  disposition  of  that 
government,  proofs  are  not  wanting;  while,  of  the 
prosperity  of  the  people,  something  may  be  gath- 
ered from  the  writings  of  diplomatic  agents  and 
others  traveling  or  resident  in  China.  In  this 
connection  reference  may  be  had  to  the  letter  of 
Hon.  G.  F.  Seward,  from  Hong  Kong,  in  March, 
1876,  to  Mr.  Fish.  He  says :  "As  things  are, 
there  are,  perhaps,  as  few  persons  pinched  with 
want,  to  be  seen  in  the  streets  of  most  Chinese 
cities,  as  in  those  of  the  cities  of  Christendom." 

Burlingame  tells  us,  in  his  letter  to  Secretary 
Seward,  of  date  December  14,  1867, — and  that 
he  should  be  an  excellent  authority  upon  the  sub- 
ject no  one  will,  for  a  moment,  doubt, — that  the 
population  of  China  comprises  one-third  of  the 
whole  human  race. 

That  nation,  which  built  up  her  civilization  and 
maintained  her  autonomy  by  the  undeviating  pur- 
suit of  peace,  early  became  aware  that  a  conquest 
inaugurated  by  the  exercise  of  peaceful  negotia- 
tions could,  alone,  promise  complete  success.  The 
hour  had  arrived  for  the  vindication  of  her  tradi- 
tions. She  had  weighed  all  the  circumstances, 
and  become  determined  in  the  prosecution  of  he; 


24         LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

resolve.  The  control  of  the  United  States  would 
f^ivc  her  the  virtual  control  of  the  Western  Hemi- 
sphere.  The  resolve  had  become  fixed,  and  its 
prosecution,  alone,  remained. 

As  the  introductory  act,  she  proceeded  to  trans- 
port her  surplus  population  to  America  and  to  have 
them  learn  to  maintain  themselves  there.  She  had 
unbounded  confidence  in  the  patriotism  of  her 
people,  while,  upon  their  industry  she  knew  she 
could  rely.  Hence,  her  subjects  must  fill  up  every 
avenue  of  industry;  must  become  the  yeomanry 
of  the  Western  World;  must  first  effeminize  and 
then  conquer  the  luxurious  people  who,  judging 
from  the  pursuits  and  pleasures  that  have  grown 
up  into  institutions  among  them,  live  only  to 
gratify  the  various  dominant  passions  of  their 
nature. 

The  first  step  to  be  made  would  prove  the 
most  difficult;  after  that  should  have  obtained 
recognition  and  toleration,  all  else  would  follow 
with  comparative  facility.  Then,  out  of  her  five 
hundred  millions  of  people,  she  could  readily 
afford  the  millions  necessary  to  carry  out  this 
immense  design. 

The  existing  treaties  between  the  United  States 
and  China  being  silent  upon  the  important  matters 
essential  to  the  regulation  of  emigration  between 
the  two  powers,  the  subjects  of  the  Chinese  Em- 
pire were  entitled  to  maintain,  in  America,  barely 
the  natural  ricrhts  of  man.     It  was  evident  that  no 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  25 

grand  scheme  of  emigration  could  be  launched 
under  such  adverse  circumstances. 

But  the  whole  scheme  of  conquest  having  been 
settled  as  a  mere  question  of  expediency,  was 
admitted  in  that  particular.  It  remained  only  to 
consider  its  practicability.  The  guarantees  of  ex- 
isting treaties  being  insufficient  to  favor  a  scheme 
of  emigration  such  as  would  be  necessary  to  trans- 
fer any  considerable  portion  of  the  population  of 
China  to  our  shores,  further  treaty  stipulations 
must  be  entered  into.  But  how,  at  this  time,  to 
solicit  negotiations  heretofore  tendered  herself, 
and  rejected  with  disdain,  was,  indeed,  a  problem 
more  difficult  of  solution  than  it  might,  at  first, 
seem. 

The  exclusive  and  haughty  character  of  the  Ta- 
Tsing  Government  rendered  it  quite  impossible 
that  overtures  should  now  come  from  China. 
Any  such  action  would  be  inconsistent  with,  as 
well  as  a  reflection  upon,  her  dignity,  and  con- 
trary to  her  policy  and  her  traditions,  extending 
back  into  the  shadows  of  pre-historic  times. 

But  chance,  and  the  aptitude  to  turn  fortuitous 
circumstances  to  account  (which  has  always  been 
a  mark  of  successful  statesmanship),  now  pointed 
to  a  plausible,  if  not  a  quite  honorable,  procedure 
for  the  amplification  of  the  treaty  stipulations 
between  the  high  contracting  parties. 

Anson  Burlingame  was  at  this  time  Envoy 
Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  from 


26  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

the  United  States  to  China.  Prince  Kung  and 
another  able  statesman  of  the  Empire,  named 
Wein-Siang,  affected,  very  suddenly,  to  have  dis- 
covered in  our  Minister  a  knowledge  of  the  world 
and  of  men,  besides  other  qualifications  which 
would  make  him  a  valuable  attache  of  the  Foreign 
Office  of  China.  He  was  accordingly  invited  by 
Wein-Siang,  whose  action  was  approved  and  sec- 
onded by  Prince  Kung,  to  accept  the  position  of 
Envoy  to  the  Treaty  Powers,  to  represent  the 
Chinese  Empire. 

Now,  the  American  people,  however  excellent 
at  home,  or  liberal  abroad,  are  exceedingly  sus- 
ceptible to  the  influences  which  play  about  Im- 
perial Courts,  and  which  promise,  however  re- 
motely, to  confer  class  distinction  upon  the  indi- 
vidual ;  and  this  passion  for  rank- distinction  is 
perhaps  the  most  ludicrous  and  contemptible 
phase  of  the  American  character.  Burlingame  was 
not  an  exception  to  his  countrymen.  His  position 
as  Minister  of  the  United  States  shrunk  into 
insignificance  at  the  brighter  prospect  of  repre- 
senting China  as  her  Envoy  to  the  Treaty 
Powers  ;  and,  accordingly,  to  accept  that  position, 
he,  on  the  21st  of  November,  1867,  resigned  his 
office  as  Minister,  in  the  following  grandiloquent 
and  crushing  phraseology,  addressed  to  the  State 
Department,  at  home  : 

"  Sir  : — In  the  interest  of  my  country  and  of 
civilization,  I  do  hereby  resign  my  commission  as 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  2^ 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipoten- 
tiary from  the  United  States  to  China  ;"  and 
became  a  high  functionary  of  the  Chinese  Empire. 
No  sooner  was  this  appointment  promulgated 
by  the  Imperial  decree,  which  was  signed  on  the 
day  immediately  following,  than  the  scheme,  for 
the  advancement  of  which  he  had  been  promoted 
and  betrayed,  was  considered  in  State  Council. 

In  justice  to  Mr.  Burlingame,  however,  it  must 
be  admitted  that  he  never  suspected  the  treachery 
that  lay  hidden  at  the  bottom  of  his  elevation  ; 
and  up  to  the  hour  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
soon  after  the  treaty  was  made,  and  before  its 
ratification,  it  had  never  flashed  upon  his  mind 
that  he  had  been  betrayed  into  a  foreign  con- 
spiracy against  the  independence  of  his  country 
and  the  freedom  of  his  race. 

It  is  needless  to  enter  further  into  the  details  of 
the  treaty  of  1868,  which  has  become  a  part  of  the 
history  of  both  countries,  and  is  familiar  to  all. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that,  through  the  successful 
manipulation  of  an  ex- Minister  of  one  country, 
who  had  become  the  Envoy  of  another,  the 
United  States  were  placed  in  the  attitude  of 
solicitor,  to  whose  plaint  the  cunning  statesmen 
of  China  finally  gave  a  hypocritical  consent. 

Thus  was  opened  up  a  scheme  of  invasion  which 
has  since  been  conducted  to  the  utmost  limit  that 
American  endurance  would  tolerate.  For  many 
years    this    immigration    has    flowed    incessantly, 


2  8  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

landing  at  the  various  ports  on  the  Pacific  sea- 
board of  the  United  States  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  Coohe  laborers.  To  further  expedite  the  work 
of  invasion  and  hasten  the  hour  for  final  occupa- 
tion, a  scheme  of  immigration  was  fixed  upon  by 
which  every  immigrant  was  assured  a  support. 
Companies  were  organized,  ostensibly  as  private 
enterprises,  but  virtually  chartered,  controlled  and 
directed  by  the  central  government  at  home. 
These  were  known  in  America  as  the  Six  Chinese 
Companies — of  which,  more  hereafter — whose 
agents  were  commissioned  by  the  Emperor  ;  and, 
by  the  same  authority,  exercised  the  functions  of 
legislative  and  judicial  officers  as  well  as  virtual 
governors  of  the  Chinese  people  in  America. 

The  impetus  given  to  Coolie  immigration  by  the 
scheme  now  put  into  practical  operation  soon 
called  forth  the  earnest  remonstrance  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  Pacific  Coast.  The  whole  department 
of  labor  was  becoming  revolutionized,  and  "  Chi- 
nese cheap  labor"  became  a  familiar  phrase  to 
represent  a  fall  in  the  status,  or  the  value  of  com- 
modities. Unlike  most  slang  phrases  popularized 
by  the  spirit  of  the  age,  this  had  a  substantial 
foundation  in  fact  ;  for,  within  a  few  years  follow- 
ing the  ratification  of  the  Burlingame  treaty  the 
price  of  unskilled  labor  fell  fifty  to  seventy-five 
per  cent,  below  its  former  standard.  The  Pacific 
Coast,  but  particularly  the  State  of  California, 
swarmed   with  Coolie   laborers,  competition  with 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  29 

whom,  in  that  capacity,  became  impossible  to  while 
laborers. 

The  European  immigrant,  who  had  heretofore 
occupied  this  field,  was  seldom  without  family  ties. 
Parents  or  children  were  generally  dependent 
upon  him  for  support.  Besides  this,  the  necessaries 
of  life,  in  his  case,  were  such  as  have  been  pecu- 
liar to  our  civilization.  His  table  must  be  spread 
with  substantial  food,  otherwise  continuous  labor 
is  an  impossibility,  while  the  very  requirements 
of  civilized  life  demand  the  procurement  of  cloth- 
ing and  habitation  in  reasonable  proportion  and 
degree.  But  the  opposition  which  now  usurped 
this  department  of  industry  was  so  manifestly 
irresistible  that,  for  the  white  laborer,  with  his 
great  comparative  necessities,  to  persevere  in 
the  retention  of  its  control,  by  compethion,  was 
a  positive  absurdity.  The  Coolie  labors  with  slow- 
ness, but  with  unremitting  constancy  and  great 
precision,  so  that  while  he  will  not  perform  the 
same  amount  of  labor  for  a  brief  period  of  time, 
that  is  usual  for  an  European  workman,  yet  his 
monthly  execution  will  compare  favorably  with 
that  of  the  latter  ;  while,  if  his  work  be  consid- 
ered for  a  much  longer  period,  he  will,  probably, 
have  accomplished  more.  With  such  precision  is 
every  work  performed,  that  the  Coolie  seldom  sus- 
tains a  loss  of  time  through  the  occurrence  of  pain- 
ful accidents  ;  he  knows  little  of  sickness,  and  less 
still  of  those  pernicious  habits  which  are  the  source 


30  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    RErUBLIC. 

of  SO  much  idleness  and  dissipation  among  the 
European  people.  To  these  advantages  he  has 
added  a  further,  that  he  has  solved  the  problem  of 
cheap  living.  Fifty  dollars  per  annum  will  main- 
tain the  ordinary  Coolie  laborer,  whose  food  con- 
sists of  little  else  than  rice  ;  and  add  to  this  that 
he  is  untrammeled  by  family  ties,  and  it  must  be 
admitted  that  in  the  field  of  labor  he  is,  indeed, 
irresistible. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  first  battle  of  the  Chinese 
conquest  was  won.  The  field  of  unskilled  labor 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  invaders,  and  a  conquered 
populace  stood  disarmed  and  discomfited,  while 
the  conquerors  complacently  divided  among  them- 
selves the  franchises  and  prerogatives  which  Amer- 
ican enterprise  had  created. 

Enthused,  although  far  from  intoxicated,  by  this 
great  moral  victory,  the  invaders  next  turned  their 
attention  to  the  department  of  skilled  labor.  The 
system  of  mechanical  education  heretofore  adopted 
had  borne  fruit ;  and  hundreds  of  expert  Chinese 
artisans  stood  ready,  at  a  signal.  They  thronged 
the  factories  and  workshops  of  all  the  cities  and 
towns  in  the  State ;  and  another  field,  although 
obstinately  contested,  was  yet,  rapidly  yielding 
before  the  well-directed  assaults  of  the  enemy. 
The  field  of  skilled  labor  had  been  virtually  cap- 
tured ;  and  now  an  army  of  American  artisans,  of 
both  sexes,  turned  their  faces  toward  the  east  and 
departed  from  the  inhospitable  land,  once  wrested 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  3 1 

by  their  fathers  from  the  wilderness  and  now  pass- 
ing, without  a  struggle,  into  a  province  of  the 
Chinese  Empire. 

Contemporaneous  with  the  fall  in  the  prices  of 
labor,  the  better  class  of  laborers  gradually  re- 
turned to  the  eastern  states.  But  all  who  had  the 
disposition  so  to  do,  did  not  happen  to  have  the 
means  with  which  to  put  it  into  practical  enforce- 
ment. It  resulted  that  many  were  compelled  to 
remain  ;  and  the  families  of  these  have  known  little 
else  than  distress  in  their  contact  with  the  world. 
A  generation  of  desperadoes — the  sons  of  honest 
parents,  however — was  the  result.  These  were 
commonly  known  in  California  as  "hoodlums,"  to 
designate  that  subdivision  that  preyed  upon  the 
misfortunes  of  the  cities  and  towns,  or  "  tramps," 
to  desiornate  those  that  traveled  at  larQ^e  and  lived 
upon  the  charity  of  the  people. 

Thus  it  was  that  society  soon  gravitated  to 
classes.  The  wealthy  class,  enjoying  the  advant- 
ages of  cheap  labor,  rapidly  accumulated  additional 
wealth,  while  the  poorer  classes,  suffering  from  the 
disadvantage  of  a  most  degrading  competition^ 
sank  lower  and  lower  in  the  social  scale.  The 
causes  which  controlled  this  unnatural  distribution 
of  property  soon  became  a  matter  of  public  dis- 
cussion, and  even  the  "unthinking  masses"  were 
not  slow  to  discover  that  the  presence,  in  our 
midst,  of  a  large  and  increasing  Chinese  popula- 
tion, was,  in  some  manner,  instrumental  in  produc- 


32  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

ing  the  public  discontent.  Thereupon,  and  with- 
out stopping  to  consider  treaty  stipulations,  or  the 
rigrhts  of  foreigners  in  our  country,  the  whole  of 
the  citizen  producing-class  at  once  declared  that 
the  Chinese  must  go !  and  that  forthwith ;  while 
the  whole  moneyed  class  resolved  that  the  Chinese 
must  remain.  Hence,  the  question  at  once  as- 
sumed a  political  aspect.  Capital,  always  stronger 
than  disinterested  public  sentiment,  until  the  latter 
assumes  the  attitude  of  armed  rebellion,  offered  no 
exception  to  the  general  rule,  in  its  application  to 
the  present  case.  The  citizen  laboring  classes, 
looking  upon  the  Chinese  as  the  immediate  cause 
of  the  popular  distress,  took  advantage  of  every 
occurrence  that  might  happen  to  place  the  Coolie 
in  the  position  of  a  public  offender,  and  to  visit 
him  with  summary  punishment.  If  he  should  offer 
resistance,  as  he  frequently  did,  he  was  generally 
killed,  or  killed  his  assailant,  in  which  latter  case 
his  own  fate  was  always  speedily  determined  at 
the  hands  of  those  who  felt  outraged  at  such  a 
turn  of  affairs. 

Scenes  of  this  character  were  enacted  with 
more  or  less  frequency,  but  not,  however,  without 
the  interference  of  the  State  law,  which,  from  time 
to  lime  made  feeble  efforts  to  take  the  control  of 
such  cases.  But  our  criminal  code  had,  at  this 
period,  become  so  trifling,  so  wrapt  up  in  refine- 
ments and  exceptions  to  general  rules,  that  the 
most  atrocious  murder  could  always  go  unscathed 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         33 

of  full  justice,  by  the  skillful  interposition  of  tech- 
nicalities, or  the  venality  of  public  officers.  In 
other  respects  the  laws  of  the  State  extended  full 
and  ample  protection  to  all  classes  alike  —  except 
when  its  fair  intent  was  blackened  or  misunder- 
stood by  corrupt  or  ignorant  judges — a  very  com- 
mon combination  of  circumstances. 

Numerous  attempts  were  made  throughout  the 
State,  by  local  municipal  legislation,  to  discriminate 
against  the  Coolie ;  but  all  such  attempts  were  in- 
variably thwarted  by  the  decrees  of  the  Courts  of 
Justice.  On  the  other  hand,  corporations,  and 
those  combinations  of  capital,  that  under  the  name 
of  "  monopolies,"  are  very  familiar  to  the  student 
of  contemporary  history  in  America,  were  arrayed 
on  the  side  of  the  Mongolian.  The  politics  of  the 
State  being  largely  controlled  by  the  monopolies, 
it  was  generally  conceded  that  legislators,  or 
others  who  might  have  it  in  their  power  to  em- 
barrass the  coveted  relation  between  Monopoly 
and  Cheap  Labor,  must  give  some  satisfactory  inti- 
mation of  their  favorable  bias  upon  the  Chinese 
question,  before  their  election  could  be  secured. 
This  potential  manoeuvre  retained  every  depart- 
ment of  the  Government  on  the  side  of  accumula- 
tion and  cheap  labor.  It  was  the  old  struggle  of 
Capital  against  Labor,  revived,  with  the  same  gen- 
eral result — Capital  in  the  ascendant. 

Defeated  in    every   effort   to  establish  a  better 

order  of  affairs   in  California,  the   people  adopted 
3 


34  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

the  course  of  laying  their  grievances  before  Con- 
gress in  a  series  of  petitions,  stating  briefly  the 
character  of  the  prevalent  abuses,  and  their  prob- 
able cause,  and  praying  relief.  But  Congress  has 
no  official  advices  that  there  is  a  superfluity  of 
Chinese  subjects  in  any  part  of  the  Union  ;  does 
not,  officially,  know  that  the  industries  of  any 
State  of  the  Union,  or  that  the  happiness  of  any 
American  citizen,  is  at  all  affected  by  any  immigra- 
tion from  any  nation  or  part  of  Asia  or  Africa  ; 
does  not,  officially,  know  that  any  of  the  institu- 
tions of  the  United  States  of  America  are  menaced 
from  any  cause  operating  fVom  without ;  does  know, 
officially,  now  that  the  matter  has  been  mooted, 
that  there  is  a  treaty  between  the  United  States 
and  one  China  —  a  Burlingame  treaty  ;  does  be- 
lieve, officially,  that  under  this  treaty  there  was  a 
right  of  free  immigration  conferred  ;  doesn't  recol- 
lect much  about  it,  now,  but  considers  the  immi- 
gration correct  and  proper,  and  officially  dismisses 
the  whole  subject  with  an  exhaustive  laudation  of 
friendly  relations,  and  international  policy  in  gen- 
eral, and  the  privilege  of  free  and  unrestricted 
intercommunication  in  particular. 

The  failure  to  obtain  relief  through  their  appeals 
to  Congress,  now  impelled  the  people  to  meditate 
redress  by  means  more  immediately  under  their 
control.  They  resolved  to  appeal  to  arms  as  soon 
as  they  should  be  finally  and  fully  satisfied  that 
peaceful  measures  would  ultimately  prove   futile: 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         35 

The  time  was  not  3'et  at  hand  for  active  hostilities, 
although  it  was  amply  ripe  for  preparation. 

Military  companies  began  to  be  formed,  and  the 
white  laborers  of  the  Pacific  States  were  quickly 
transformed  into  a  military  people.  The  head- 
quarters of  this  movement  was  in  San  Francisco, 
whence,  under  the  guidance  of  earnest  men  it 
rapidly  spread  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  State 
of  California.  This  association  of  the  people  had 
the  direct  tendency  to  unite  the  white  laborers  and 
their  sympathizers  into  a  closer  bond  of  fellowship. 

A  partisan  spirit  was  soon  born  of  this  move- 
ment; but  the  principles  upon  which  it  was  based 
being  incompatible  with  the  doctrines  of  existing 
political  parties — both  of  which  were  controlled  by 
the  monopolies,  and  hence,  pro-Coolie  in  their 
tendency — it  necessarily  clamored  for  individual 
political  recognition. 

Of  this  sentiment  was  born  the  Workingmen's 
party,  which  signalized  its  advent  into  the  sphere 
of  politics  by  electing  its  local  ticket  in  many 
of  the  counties  of  the  State.  The  presiding  genius 
of  this  movement  was  a  drayman  of  San  Francisco, 
but  a  man,  withal,  of  undoubted  natural  ability  and 
firmness  of  character.  He  made  no  pretensions 
to  the  refinements  or  the  graces  of  character  which 
are  supposed  to  belong  to  modern  statesmen,  and 
which  distinguish  the  man  of  culture  or  refine- 
ment; but  he  was  honest  and  not  too  ambitious. 
He  loved  his  fellow-men  of  the  class  to  which  he 


35  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

belonged,  and  he  constituted  himself  their  cham- 
pion. In  fact,  he  possessed  many  of  the  attributes 
and  qualifications  of  that  other  drayman  of  history, 
who  afterwards  became  Colonel  Pride,  the  expur- 
gator  of  the  British  House  of  Commons  at  the 
time  of  the  abduction  of  Charles  I. 

Kearney,  for  such  was  the  name  of  the  present 
character,  was  not  vindictive  in  his  opposition  to 
the  dominant  class,  but  he  was  abusive.  He 
wielded  an  army  of  armed  laborers  with  the  same 
ease  that  a  father  might  sway  the  purposes  and 
inclinations  cf  his  family.  He  was  moderate  in  all 
things  except  his  language.  He  had  no  habits 
that  he  indulged  to  excess,  while  he  invariably 
counseled  moderation  among  his  followers.  But 
in  his  public  speeches  he  indulged  the  most  violent 
sentiments,  and  pictured  to  his  auditors  in  homely, 
but  forcible  and  fluent  terms,  the  story  of  their 
common  wrongs  at  the  hands  of  the  "  hell-born 
Chinese  plague,"  assisted  by  the  "hell-bound 
bank-smashers,  thieves  and  robbers  of  Nob  Hill." 

The  progress  of  this  anti-monopoly,  anti-Chinese 
movement,  combined  with  threats,  which  now  be- 
came current,  against  the  Chinese  quarter  of  San 
Francisco,  at  length  began  to  work  upon  the  fears 
of  capitalists.  "The  Chinese  Must  Go,"  had  be- 
come the  watchword  of  the  hour.  The  club- rooms 
of  the  Workingmen  were  converted  into  the  ar- 
senals of  an  armed  people;  and  it  soon  became 
evident  that  the  Workingmen's  party  lacked  only 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         37 

the  disposition  to  solve,  in  its  own  way,  the  Chi- 
nese question  in  CaHfornia,  for  the  time  being. 

This  disposition  might  be  quickened  into  action 
by  an  unforeseen  occurrence,  at  any  moment.  The 
tenure  of  all  property,  viewed  in  the  light  of  this 
uncertainty,  rested  upon  a  contingency  subject  to 
no  local  control.  The  inevitable  result  was  a  sud- 
den crash  in  values.  Collaterals  fell,  in  the  course 
of  a  few  months,  in  about  the  same  proportion  that 
the  price  of  labor  had  already  fallen.  Banks  closed 
their  doors,  and  brokers,  merchants  and  manufac- 
turers made  assignments.  Depositors  of  all  classes 
were  hurled  indiscriminately  into  a  common  vortex 
of  financial  ruin.  The  oppression  of  labor  had 
borne  its  legitimate  fruit. 

The  gold  and  silver  of  the  State,  however,  had 
not  been  removed,  but  was  simply  more  concen- 
trated. Without  lessening  the  natural  productions 
of  the  country  to  any  great  extent,  the  people  had 
become  impoverished.  Capital  accumulated  in  the 
private  money  vaults  of  the  millionaires;  landed 
estate  had  become  a  drugf  in  the  market,  and  was 
rapidly  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Chinese  specu- 
lators who,  alone,  of  the  moneyed  classes,  showed 
a  disposition  to  take  advantage  of  me  condition 
of  the  market;  while  the  ruined  members  of  the 
once  thrifty  middle  class  drifted  aimlessly  about,  to 
reach,  at  last,  the  condition  of  penury  and  want. 

Demonstrations  of  hostility  against  the  Chinese, 
on  a  lareer  and  more  determined  scale  than  here- 


38         LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

tofore,  were  every  month  becoming  more  fre- 
quent. The  people  declared,  by  word  and  by 
act,  that  they  should  have  the  protection  of  the 
Government  against  the  blighting  influence  of  the 
Chinese  intercourse,  or  they  would  precipitate 
revolution. 

Capitalists,  and  the  moneyed  combinations  gen- 
erally, for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Cali- 
fornia, found  it  imperative  to  affect  a  sympathetic 
interest  in  the  cause  of  the  people.  The  political 
machinery  of  the  State  was  accordingly  brought 
to  bear  upon  Congress,  to  produce  some  demon- 
stration against  the  Chinese  invasion,  that  might 
lull  the  apprehensions  of  the  masses.  In  the  prose- 
cution of  this  plan  the  influence  of  Oregon  and 
Nevada  was  enlisted  to  second  the  purpose  to  be 
advanced  by  California.  This  triumvirate  gath- 
ered sufflcient  influence  at  Washinofton  to  obtain 
for  its  measure  a  species  of  recognition.  The 
result  was  the  introduction  of  a  bill,  the  terms  of 
which  virtually  nullified  the  treaty  stipulations  of 
the  Burlingame  compact. 

The  temper  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  toward  this  bill  had  been  ascertained  before 
its  passage  was  finally  determined  upon,  and  when 
it  was  known  that  its  objectionable  features, 
viewed  in  the  light  of  international  law,  were  duly 
weighed  by  the  President,  and  that  the  President's 
veto  might  be  considered  assured,  it  was  quickly 
passed  by  both  Houses.       Upon  its  submission  to 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         39 

him,  the  President  reviewed  the  bill  at  some 
length,  and  returned  it  without  his  approval. 

The  action  of  Congress  and  of  the  President 
had  been  watched  with  painful  interest  by  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Pacific  Coast  during  the  pro- 
gress of  this  subterfuge,  and  much  acrimonious 
criticism  was  directed  against  the  action  of  the 
latter  by  the  press  and  the  people  of  the  Pacific 
States  and  Territories,  who  did  not  stop  to 
inquire  how  far  any  other  course  would  have  been 
justified  under  the  Constitution  and  our  treaty 
obligations,  both  of  which  the  President  is  officially 
bound  to  maintain. 

And  now  a  few  words  upon  this  political  comedy 
will  be  a  harmless  digression,  and  not  altogether 
inappropriate  in  this  connection.  In  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  the  House  was  at  this  time 
under  the  control  of  the  Democracy,  and  the  Senate 
under  the  control  of  the  Republicans.  The  Presi- 
dential election  of  1880  was  already  absorbing 
much  of  the  attention  of  Congress,  to  the  neglect 
—be  it  said  with  shame — of  matters  intimately 
connected  with  the  material  interests  of  the  peo- 
ple. California  and  Oregon,  both  doubtful  States, 
must  be  courted  by  the  politicians  who  occupied 
the  chairs  dedicated  to  statesmen  and  to  states- 
manship at  the  Capitol.  Here  now  was  presented 
a  measure  which  was  evidently  popular  with  the 
voting  population  of  both  States,  but  unpopular 
with  both  parties,  neither  of  which,  at  this  period, 


40  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

could  be  said  to  represent  the  people  as  contra- 
distinguished from  the  moneyed  combinations 
of  the  country.  A  little  hypocritical  conde- 
scension on  the  part  of  the  Democratic  House 
at  this  time  mio-ht  secure  the  electoral  vote 
of  two  doubtful  States  for  the  Democratic  can- 
didate for  President  in  1880.  The  bill  was  ac- 
cordingly drawn  up  in  a  manner  obnoxious  to 
well  recognized  princijDles  of  international  law 
and  common  justice,  and  so  artfully  withal  as  to 
leave  it  very  questionable,  to  the  determination 
of  the  uninitiated  reader,  whether  the  imputation 
of  intentional  intrigue  would  lie.  It  passed, 
with  only  sufficient  opposition  to  give  the  whole 
proceeding  the  semblance  of  a  decently  divided 
public  sentiment  upon  an  important  public 
measure. 

The  Republican  Senate  was  now  thoroughly 
alarmed.  It  was  placed  between  two  sets  of 
opinions  of  the  bitterest  political  antagonism,  both 
of  which  it  was  called  upon  to  conciliate.  Puri- 
tanical New  England  was  loud  in  her  denuncia- 
tion of  the  measure.  She  wanted  half  the  Chinese 
Empire  transferred  to  America,  lo  give  occupa- 
tion to  her  missionary  heroes,  and  furnish  cheap 
labor  for  her  factories  ;  added  to  which  was  that 
humane  fervor  that  was  loud  in  proclaiming  that 
America,  her  laws  and  her  policy,  were  forever 
dedicated  to  the  elevation  of  the  benighted  and 
oppressed   of  all  lands.     New  England  was  emi- 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  4 1 

nently  Republican,  so  the  opinions  and  the  sym- 
pathies of  New  England  were  entitled  to  respect. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  electoral  votes  of  two 
doubtful  States,  if  jeopardized  through  deference 
to  the  prejudices  of  New  England,  might,  and 
probably  would,  give  the  Presidency  in  1880  to 
the  Democracy.  New  England  was  entitled  to 
respect,  but  the  Presidency  must  not  be  given 
away.  The  issue  was  framed,  and  there  was  no 
time  for  temporizing.  The  bill  must  pass  the 
Senate.  But,  although  a  Republican  Senate  was 
thus  driven  to  the  resort  of  self- stultification,  a 
Republican  President  was  still  empowered  to  save 
the  party  from  the  wrath  of  New  England.  The 
temper  of  the  President  as  regards  the  bill  was 
duly  ascertained,  and  the  last  obstacle  was  re- 
moved. The  bill  was  passed  by  the  Senate,  but 
never  became  a  law  ;  and  the  States  of  California 
and  Oreeon  were  relegated  to  the  classification 
of  "doubtful  States." 

Contrary  to  that  which  might  have  been  ex- 
pected from  a  hasty  view  of  this  circumstance,  the 
hopes  of  the  people  thus  suddenly  and  rudely 
shattered,  were  not  followed  by  any  considerable 
reaction.  The  apparent  unanimity  of  sentiment  in 
Coneress,  in  its  action  on  the  bill,  created  an 
impression  in  the  minds  of  the  people  that  the 
country  had  come  to  appreciate  the  magnitude  of 
the  evil  that  rested  in  the  one  fact  of  Chinese  immi- 
gration ;  and    that    early    and    decisive    measures 


42  LAST  DAYS   OF   THE    REPUBLIC. 

would  be  taken  to  regulate  this  detail  of  our 
foreign  intercourse. 

At  this  period  it  became  conspicuously  manifest 
that  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  California  was 
insufficient  in  the  extent  and  terms  of  its  limita- 
tions, to  respond  to  the  wants  of  the  people.  This 
instrument  had  been  adopted  at  a  time  when  the 
State  was  sparsely  peopled,  and  before  most  of  the 
industries  that  have  since  grown  up  had  had  their 
origin,  even  in  experiment. 

Combinations  of  capital  controlled  every  avenue 
of  production,  politics  and  trade  ;  and,  as  ever, 
the  pulpit,  also,  worshipped  at  the  shrine  of  capi- 
tal. Corporations,  to  secure  their  aims  and  pur- 
poses, sought  to  corrupt  the  people  at  the  ballot- 
box  ;  and  if  they  failed  in  this  direction,  they 
sought  the  Legislatures.  In  their  efforts  against 
the  people  they  sometimes  failed  ;  but  against  the 
Legislature,  never. 

But  the  prestige  of  the  new  political  movement, 
about  this  time,  infused  a  new  sentiment  into  the 
minds  of  the  people.  An  Act  was  passed  by  the 
Legislature,  at  its  session  of  1877-8,  to  which, 
indeed,  little  or  no  opposition  was  made  by  any 
element  of  society,  and  which  obtained  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Governor  in  March,  1878,  providing 
for  a  convention  to  frame  a  new  Constitution.  In 
perfecting  this  reform  the  utmost  expedition  was 
observed.  The  election  for  delegates  was  fixed 
for  the  following  June,  to  assemble   in  convention 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         43 

in  September,  and  frame  a  Constitution,  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  people  the  following  May. 

In  the  election  of  delegates  to  this  convention, 
the  new  party  came  first  conspicuously  before  the 
people,  and  it  became  evident  to  the  older  politi- 
cal organizations  that  a  young  giant  had  stalked 
into  the  arena  of  partisan  strife. 

Becoming  aware  that  opportunity  was  now 
offered  to  establish  principles  of  government  which 
could  not  be  altered  or  repealed  by  legislation  in 
the  interest  of  any  class  ;  and,  also,  as  they  be- 
lieved, to  regulate  Chinese  intercourse  with  the 
citizen  population  so  as  to  protect  native  labor  and 
home  industries,  the  WorkinQfmen  strueeled  with 
unremitting  zeal  and  industry  for  the  success  of 
their  party,  through  which  they  had  hoped  to 
effect  those  ends.  The  result  that  followed  more 
than  justified  their  most  sanguine  expectations. 
They  had  elected  to  the  convention  one-third  of 
the  membership  of  that  body. 

Their  representatives  soon  took  prominence  in 
the  matter  of  incorporating  provisions  into  the 
instrument  under  consideration  :  first,  to  curb  the 
powers  of  the  corporations  which  had  long  since 
ceased  to  regard  the  letter  of  their  charters  as  the 
limit  of  their  commercial  or  business  prerogative, 
and,  figuratively,  laughed  at  the  efforts  of  individ- 
uals, or  communities,  to  enforce  the  penalty  of 
forfeiture,  upon  admitted  statutory  grounds  ;   and, 


44  I'AST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

in  the  second  place,  to  grapple  with  the  Coolie 
labor  question. 

These  delegates  were  selected  not  only  from  the 
Workingmen's  party,  but  the  most  efficient  among 
them  were  chosen  from  among  a  large  element 
nominally  within  the  Republican  and  Democratic 
parties,  but  which  had,  for  some  time,  been  at 
war  with  the  popular  corruption  which  was  fostered 
by  what  they  were  led  to  believe  was  the  par- 
tisan dishonesty  and  political  intrigue  of  the  re- 
spective parties. 

The  popularity  of  the  first  of  these  measures 
proposed  in  the  convention,  as  evidenced  by  the 
active  support  which  it  elicited,  brought  the  emis- 
saries of  the  moneyed  interests,  in  force,  to  the 
lobby  of  the  convention.  This  furnished  a  new 
sucrorestion  to  the  dominant  element  of  the  con- 
vention,  which  had  resolved  to  sweep  away  every 
trace  of  the  corrupting  influence  of  the  past.  Lob- 
bying had,  heretofore,  been  the  great  bane  of  State 
legislation;  and  now  it  was  proposed  to  make  the 
exercise  of  that  pj'ofession  (for  such,  indeed,  it 
had  become  to  be  recognized)  a  felony,  by  consti- 
tutional provision.  The  novelty  of  the  proposition, 
coupled  with  its  evident  usefulness,  struck  a  popu- 
lar sentiment  among  the  delegates,  and  it  was 
adopted. 

The  convention,  having  placed  sufficient  civil 
restrictions  upon  the  power  of  capital,  now  turned 
its  attention  to  the  Coolie  labor  question.     For 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  45 

several  weeks  this  continued  to  be  a  theme  of 
earnest  discussion.  The  lobby  was  crowded  with 
the  hired  advocates  of  cheap  labor;  biit  every 
effort  to  bridle  the  spirit  of  reform  was  met  with 
defiance,  and  every  argument  employed  by  the 
mercenary  advocates  fell  paralyzed  before  the  stub- 
born logic  of  experience,  detailed  by  the  champions 
of  the  people.  Article  XIX  of  the  Constitution 
was  at  length  adopted,  prescribing  the  duties  and 
fixing  the  obligations  of  citizens  and  individuals, 
whether  corporate  or  natural,  in  their  intercourse 
with  the  Chinese  residents.  Every  possible  hard- 
ship which  the  people  were  compelled  to  suffer 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Chinese  inva- 
sion, found  a  remedy  under  the  broad  limitations 
of  this  article — unless  it  should  prove,  under  judi- 
cial  construction,  at  conflict  with  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States. 

The  Constitution  was,  at  length,  completed,  and 
adopted  as  a  whole,  in  convention,  on  the  3d  day 
of  March,  1879.  Its  ratification  or  rejection,  by 
the  people,  would  be  determined  in  May. 

In  the  determination  of  this  issue,  the  corpora- 
tions considered  themselves  challenged  to  a  con- 
flict by  the  people  and  with  th.e  people,  and 
accepted  the  challenge.  They  began  to  concen- 
trate their  strength  for  a  grand  effort,  which  should 
crush,  at  least  for  the  present,  this  impudent  inter- 
ference with  the  privileges  which  they  had  hereto- 
fore enjoyed.     Large  sums  of  money  were  sub- 


46         LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

scribed  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  campaign 
commission,  with  headquarters  at  San  Francisco. 
Banks  issued  circulars  threatening  with  foreclosure 
and  ruin  those  who  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  be 
at  their  mercy,  should  they  support  the  New  Con- 
stitution.   Railroad  employes  were  given  to  under- 
stand that  their  terms  of  employment  were  now 
dependent  upon  their  action  regarding  the  ques- 
tion before  the  people;  while  the  numerous  busi- 
ness establishments  that  revolved  within  the  orbits 
of  these  were  compelled  to  pattern  after  their  stern 
example — and  all  this  in  open  defiance  of  penal 
statutes.     Added  to   this  was  a   corps  of  corre- 
spondents,  with  headquarters   at   San   Francisco, 
which  was  employed  to  flood  the  columns  of  the 
country  press  with  adverse  criticisms  of  the  New 
Constitution,  and  to  plausibly  and  industriously  mis- 
interpret its  provisions.    Newspapers  were  bought 
and  sold  to  obtain  influential  opposition  or  remove 
influential  advocacy.      Public  speakers,  employed 
by  the  same  authority,  were  continually  haranguing 
the  people  from  every  rostrum  in  the  State,  and 
predicting  the  most  dreadful  calamities  that  must 
inevitably  follow  upon  the  adoption  of  the  Consti- 
tution.    The   California-street  stock  market,   not 
inappropriately  termed,   in  Sand-lot  oratory,   the 
*'  Gambling   Hell  of   North  America,"    threw  its 
immense  influence   into  the  scale;  while  the  Re- 
publican and   Democratic  parties,  flanked  by  the 
pulpit  of  whatsoever  shade,  completed  the  array. 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  47 

A  more  unholy  and  incompatible  alliance  was 
never  before  cemented,  whether  for  the  subversion 
of  a  government  or  the  robbery  of  a  till.  But 
every  effort  failed.  Threats  of  persecution  and 
promises  of  reward  were  alike  powerless  to  fetter 
those  aspirations  of  individual  independence  which 
are  the  inheritance  of  every  free  people.  The 
Constitution  was  ratified  by  a  majority  of  ten  thou- 
sand votes. 

The  magnitude  which  the  question  of  "Chinese 
Coolieism"  (as  the  Constitution  quaintly  puts  k) 
had  now  assumed,  cannot  be  better  illustrated  than 
by  observing,  through  this  struggle,  the  hold 
which  it  had  taken  upon,  and  exercised  through, 
the  moneyed  interests  of  the  State.  Cheap  labor 
in  mining,  manufacturing,  husbandry,  railroad  build- 
ing, etc.,  had  rendered  possible  the  existence  of 
monopolies  in  all  these  departments  ;  and  thus, 
almost  directly,  built  up  all  those  collossal  institu- 
tions which  had,  for  so  long  a  period  of  time,  ad- 
ministered the  affairs  of  the  State  government  in 
their  private  interests. 

There  was  incorporated  into  the  new  Constitu- 
tion nothing  that  aimed  to  curb  the  just  and  rea- 
sonable prosperity  of  the  corporations,  dissociated 
from  a  prejudicial  alliance  with  a  species  of  slave 
labor.  They  were  not  divested  of  rights  enjoyed 
by  similar  corporations  in  other  states  ;  but  the 
laxity  or  venality  of  previous  legislation  upon  many 
of  the  subjects  discussed  in  the  Constitution  made 


48  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

it  necessary,  in  the  opinion  of  the  convention,  to 
legislate  as  well  as  to  limit.  But  it  aimed  to  de- 
stroy  the  institution  of  cheap  labor  by  destroying 
the  institution  of  Coolieism  ;  and  the  powers  which 
had  rooted  their  opulence  in  that  soil  and  raised 
their  fabrics  of  oppressive  wealth  and  political 
domination  above  its  reeking  mass,  were  intem- 
perate in  their  mad  endeavor  to  prevent  its  puri- 
fication. 

They  dared  not  resort  to  open  violence  to  attain 
their  end,  for  the  people  were  armed.  They  saw 
the  political  power  of  the  State  passing  out  of  their 
hands,  and  learned,  for  the  first  time,  that  ofold 
could  not  purchase  the  manhood  of  the  citizen 
who  fancied  that  he  discovered  through  the  in- 
trigues of  the  master  the  thrall  and  cofiie  of  the 
slave. 

The  spirit  that  nerved  the  arm  of  his  sire  to 
conquest,  was  now  kindled  into  a  holy  fervor  in 
the  son.  He  loved  his  country  and  he  loved  her 
institutions  ;  and  it  was  because  he  loved  them  so 
well  that  he  trusted  so  implicitly  the  integrity  of 
those  whom  the}-  had  raised  to  power.  But  these 
latter  were  infidel  to  their  mighty  trust.  They 
had  drifted  a  sovereio^n  State  to  the  vergfe  of  finan- 
cial  and  political  ruin,  and  hurried  her  people  along 
with  it  into  the  very  shadows  of  anarchy  and 
revolution. 


•r^■■tv-.4^■' 


-^^  -;^' 


^■^-.. 


THE  GOVERNOR  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


CHAPTER    III. 

Chinese  Immigration  and  Immigrants The  White  Laborers  be- 
come Restive Intrigues  of  the  Imperial  Government 

Status  of  the  Immigrant Agency  of  the  Chinese  Companies 

Seward  falls  into  the  Little  Trap  set  by  Wein-Siang 

Inducements  that  Suggested  Conquest Statesmanship  De- 
fined and  Illustrated Authority  of  the  Companies 

Legal   Technicalities The    Dead    Coolie Master    and 

Slave Mongolian  Theology. 

Embracing  a  period  of  ten  years,  up  to  1882, 
Coolie  immigration  to  the  United  States  continued 
with  unabated  constancy  and  vigor.  As  shown 
by  the  preceding  chapter,  every  expedient  that 
seemed  calculated  to  relieve  the  public  distress,  in 
this  direction,  was  fairly  tested,  and  in  each  in- 
stance the  effort  to  achieve  any  mitigation,  con- 
spicuously failed. 

On  the  one  hand  the  Coolie-ridden  communities 
of  the  Pacific  Coast,  throughout  the  States  of  Cal- 
ifornia and  Oregon,  were  nursing  their  wrath,  in 
the  anticipation  that  Congress,  at  its  next  session, 
would  adopt  measures  decisive  of  the  controversy. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  people  of  California  had 
confidence  that  the  principles  adopted  by  their 
new  Constitution  would  successfully  grapple  with 
and  check,  if  they  did  not  entirely  overthrow,  the 


50        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

project  of  further  importation  to  our  shores  of  the 
subjects  of  the  Chinese  Empire.  There  was, 
therefore,  a  brief  lull  in  the  adverse  demonstra- 
tions of  the  people. 

Meanwhile,  there  was  not  less,  perhaps,  than 
half  a  million  of  Chinese  subjects  upon  the  soil  of 
the  United  States ;  and  owing  to  the  elaborate 
scheme  of  immigration  that  had  been  established, 
and  the  systematic  perfection  of  its  application,  the 
spirit  of  antagonism  it  encountered  from  the  masses 
in  America,  in  no  observable  degree  affected  the 
current  of  progress. 

That  this  enterprise  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Six 
Chinese  Companies,  was  a  fact  conceded  by  all  ; 
but  beyond  this  the  true  character  of  the  scheme 
seems  to  have  been  but  little  understood. 

It  was  generally  accepted  as  a  fact  admitted, 
that  the  Companies  transacted  no  other  business 
than  simply  to  defray  the  expense  of  the  importa- 
tion to  the  United  States,  of  those  of  their  coun- 
trymen who  were  landed  within  our  ports,  pursu- 
ant to  an  aofreement  made  between  the  emio^rant 
and  the  Company  at  home,  that  the  former  should 
reimburse  the  latter  for  the  outlay  occasioned,  and 
should  pay,  besides,  a  heavy  rate  of  interest  on 
the  money  advanced  by  the  Company.  It  was, 
for  a  long  time,  believed,  in  the  United  States, 
that  the  contract  was  mutual  and  voluntary  on 
both  sides. 

But  statistics  collected  and  laid  before  the  Con- 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  5  I 

stitutional  Convention  in  1878-9  better  informed 
the  people  as  to  the  nature  of  this  immigration 
contract.  So  satisfied  was  the  Convention  that 
the  so-called  Free  Immigration  was  false  in  its 
representation  and  false  in  its  practice,  that  that 
body  found  it  necessary,  in  order  to  place  the 
scheme  in  its  true  character  before  the  people,  to 
declare,  in  the  fundamental  law  of  the  State,  that 
*' Asiatic  Coolieism  is  a  form  of  human  slavery." 

Thus  far,  the  interpretation  was  eminently  cor- 
rect, but  it  did  not  cover  the  whole  oround. 

Few,  if  any,  had  stopped  to  inquire  how  far  the 
governmental  authority  of  China  might  be  inter- 
ested in  this  whole  question ;  as  the  conviction 
had  not  yet  obtained,  that  the  whole  plan  of  emi- 
gration was,  as  intimated  in  the  last  chapter,  a 
scheme  of  invasion  rooted  in  the  purpose,  and  a 
part  of  the  programme  of  the  sovereigns  of  China, 
to  extend  her  authority  throughout  "all  lands 
within  and  without  the  wide  seas." 

But  this  was  a  feature  of  the  Coolie  traffic,  the 
investigation  of  which  did  not  interest  the  average 
American.  It  was  enouofh  that  the  Coolies  were 
here  in  oppressive  force,  and  continued  to  come. 
It  was  immaterial  to  him  whether  the  Six  Com- 
panies held  their  charters  from  the  Ta-Tsin  gov- 
ernment or  whether  they  operated  without  a 
charter. 

This  very  important  inquiry  was  neglected — im- 
portant, because,  if  it  had  been  understood,  at  that 


52         LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

day,  that  Coolieism  was  indeed  a  scheme  having 
the  sanction  of  the  Chinese  government,  more 
vigorous  measures  would,  in  all  probability,  have 
been  adopted  for  its  suppression. 

But  a  declaration  to  that  effect  was  not  to  have 
been  expected,  officially,  from  the  Chinese  gov- 
ernment, either  now  or  in  the  future.  If  discov- 
ered at  all,  it  must  be  deduced  from  circumstances 
occurring  here  and  in  China,  corroborated  by  such 
facts  concerning  the  relation  of  those  Companies 
to  the  ofovernment  as  could  be  cfathered  from  con- 
temporary  writings  and  authentic  reports.  These 
abundantly  supply  all  the  data  necessary  to  a 
proper  understanding  of  this  question. 

It  will  be  conceded  that  the  government  of 
China  is  officially  cognizant  of  the  extent  of  the 
emigration  of  its  subjects  to  the  United  States ; 
but  that  country  has  never  felt  herself  called  upon 
to  define  the  relation  which  her  government  bears 
to  the  business  of  the  Companies.  The  knowledge 
and  quiet  acquiescence  benig  thus  shown,  as  ad- 
mitted, her  sanction,  and  hence  her  encourage- 
ment of  the  enterprise  must,  according  to  every 
known  principle  of  fair  deduction,  be  implied. 
Statistics  submitted  to  the  Convention  and  other 
reports  gathered  from  the  writings  of  American 
and  European  residents  and  travelers  in  China, 
abundantly  fix  the  dependent  status  of  the  immi- 
grant, on  boTh  sides  of  the  Pacific. 

From  these  sources  it  seems  clearly  established 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  53 

that  the  Chinese  officials  are  empowered  to  con- 
tract, and  do  contract,  with  the  Companies,  for  the 
transportation  to  America,  of  tiie  offenders  against 
the  laws  who  have  been  condemned  to  imprison- 
ment. 

If  an  official  of  any  government  with  which  we 
are  acquainted  should  exercise  so  great  a  power 
as  this  we  would  not  hesitate  to  conclude  that  he 
had  acted  immediately  under  the  sovereign  will ; 
and  when  we  apply  this  rule  to  China,  which  is  the 
most  despotic  of  despotisms,  the  force  of  the  prin- 
ciple is  intensified. 

But  this  argument,  the  plausibility  of  which 
must  be  admitted,  is  not  the  only  one  that  is  at 
hand  to  maintain  the  position  taken  in  these 
pages,  to  wit:  the  agency  of  the  Six  Companies. 
Let  it  be  examined  from  the  position  occupied  by 
the  Companies,  and  the  same  view  must  be  main- 
tained. These  advance  money  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  criminals,  and  others,  to  the  United 
States.  This  is  done  by  direct  negotiation  with 
the  State,  through  its  officers,  so  far  as  it  applies 
to  the  criminals.  For  reimbursement,  the  Compa- 
nies will  have  to  depend  upon  the  good  faith  of 
the  emigrant.  They  know  well,  however,  that 
if  the  latter  should  choose  to  throw  himself  upon 
the  protection  of  our  laws,  the  contract  cannot  be 
enforced. 

But  suppose  the  home  government  should  with- 
draw from  the  emigrant  the  protection  of  her  laws, 


54  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

and  should  give  to  the  Companies  the  right  to 
legislate  for  him  in  America;  or,  in  other  words, 
should  choose  to  establish  a  trans- Pacific  govern- 
ment for  the  emigrant,  the  difficulty  will  be  over- 
come, and  the  government  will  not  be  compro- 
mised. 

This  would  be  nothingr  more  than  enlig-htened 
England  did,  in  colonial  days,  upon  the  shores  of 
the  Atlantic;  and  this  is  exactly  what  China  has 
done.  That  nation  has  sent  neither  diplomatic 
nor  consular  agents  to  look  after  the  interests  of 
her  subjects,  in  America,  But  all  such  power,  and 
immeasurably  more,  she  has  vested  in  her  Six 
Companies. 

When  the  late  Secretary  Seward  was  at  Peking, 
he  suggested  this  oversight,  as  he  supposed  the 
absence  of  Chinese  consular  agents,  in  America,  to 
be,  to  Wein-Siang,  the  great  statesman  of  the  em- 
pire, but  that  wily  barbarian  very  adroitly  changed 
the  subject;  and,  further,  to  completely  disarm  any 
suspicion  of  a  deeper  plot,  that  might  suggest  itself 
to  our  great  Secretary,  wrought  himselt  into  an 
alarming  fit  of  melancholy  over  the  deplorable 
future  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  which  he  feared  was. 
tottering  to  ruin.  The  acting  was  so  perfect  that 
even  Mr.  Seward  was  wholly  deceived,  and  made 
no  effort  to  disguise  his  sympathy  for  the  fears 
of  the  great  Chinese  statesman.  He  records  the 
circumstance,  in  perfect  good  faith,  and  as  an  illus- 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  55 

tration  of  the  patriotic  devotion  of  this  Mandarin, 
in  his  "Travels  Around  the  World." 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  the  contract  between 
the  government  and  the  Company,  the  subject  is 
handed  over  to  his  new  masters,  and  even  his 
very  life  is  placed  at  their  disposal.  We  have  had 
abundant  instances  here,  of  the  power  which  the 
agencies  of  these  Companies,  at  San  Francisco, 
exercise  over  the  lives,  liberty  and  property  of  the 
Coolie,  all  over  the  State;  and  this  authority  is 
but  the  exercise  of  a  guaranteed  right,  from  the 
Chinese  Government  to  the  Company,  that  the 
contract,  of  which  the  Coolie  is  the  subject  as  well 
as  an  element  of  the  consideration,  may  be  en- 
forced as  the  Company  may  elect. 

But  the  Companies,  in  return  for  the  high  privi- 
leges accorded  to  them  in  this  particular,  pledge 
themselves,  under  penalty  of  the  forfeiture  of  every 
privilege  that  they  enjoy  as  such  corporations, 
that  the  allegiance  of  the  Chinese  citizen  shall  not 
be  transferred.  How  they  have  maintained  this 
pledge,  and  enforced  the  performance,  by  the 
Coolie,  of  the  most  oppressive  contracts,  the  star- 
chamber  proceedings  of  the  Chinese  quarter  of  San 
Francisco,  and  the  story  of  the  hired  executioner, 
could  they  but  be  compelled  to  speak,  would  abun- 
dantly testify. 

I  have  devoted  these  few  pages  to  the  object 
of  makin'^'-  manifest,  from  a  reasonable  construction 
of  the  actions  of  men,  that  the  Coolie  invasion  was 


56  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

not  an  afterthouglit,  nor  a  mere  abnormal  feature 
of  this  immigration  to  our  shores,  but  that  it  was, 
indeed,  a  deep  conspiracy,  originating  in  the  subtle 
mind  of  Wein-Siang,  and  seconded  by  Prince  Kung, 
to  give  practical  direction,  in  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury, to  a  theory  of  national  dominion,  which  was 
a  dogma  of  the  political  creed  of  China  while  yet 
the  discovery  of  the  Western  World  was  an  event 
far  away  in  the  shadowy  future 

That  the  genial  climate  of  the  Pacific  States, 
the  fabulous  treasures  of  their  mountains,  and  the 
perpetual  summer  of  the  great  valleys  of  Califor- 
nia, were  the  primary  inducements  which  led  to  the 
project  of  conquest  ;  that  the  scheme  was  con- 
ceived long  before  the  Burlingame  treaty  was  pro- 
posed ;  and  that  this  treaty  was  ihe  first  step 
practically  taken  to  carry  out  the  stupendous 
design,  must  necessarily  be  admitted  by  all,  who, 
laying  aside  the  official  declarations  of  statesmen, 
intended  for  foreign  interpretation,  which  are 
always  more  or  less  tainted  with  falsehood,  or 
hypocrisy,  and  in  a  great  many  instances  are  lit  le 
else,  will  take  into  consideration  only  the  actions 
of  those  engaged,  and  measure  their  aims  and 
purposes  by  the  standard  of  their  conduct,  their 
recognized  and  reasonable  sympathies  and  the 
prospective  advantage  to  accrue. 

This  is  the  only  infallible  standard  by  which  to 
interpret  the  purposes  of  statesmen — and,  it  might 
be  added,  all  other  men.     It  is  because  he  rnani- 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  5/ 

fested  so  much  shrewdness  and  statecraft,  and 
proved  himself  so  successful  as  a  diplomatist,  just 
prior  to  the  late  Russo-Turkish  war,  that  the  great 
Russian  statesman,  Gen.  Ignatieff,  has  been  com- 
plimented as  the  "greatest  liar  in  Europe."  Again: 
Beaconsfield  is  a  most  profound  hypocrite  ;  and  the 
natural  despondency  of  his  inexpressive  face,  alone 
saved  him  from  self-betra)al,  when,  with  a timerity 
born  of  despair,  he  declared,  in  the  Berlin  Con- 
gress, that  he  did  not  "come  here  to  yield."  This 
was  an  utterance  of  the  hypocrisy  of  statesman- 
ship ;  the  fear  that  he  would  be  compelled  to  yield 
every  demand,  alone  suggested  the  startling 
speech.  And  he  was  not  less  a  hypocrite  when 
he  remotely  intimated,  in  the  same  grave  assem- 
blage, that  half  a  million,  more  or  less,  of  armed 
Sepoys  would  be  among  the  possibilities  of  an 
Anglo- Russian  war  —  which  diplomatic  thrust 
brought  Count  Schouvaloff  to  his  knees. 

Ignatieff  is  a  most  pro!"ouncl  statesman,  or,  in 
other  words,  a  most  methodical  prevaricator  of 
plain  truths.  Beaconsfield's  hypocrisy  restored  to 
England,  in  the  brief  period  of  a  few  months,  the 
prestige  which  had  oozed  out  of  her  institutions 
durinof  half  a  centurv  of  reverses.  In  like  manner 
Wein-Siang  saw  nothing  in  Mr.  Burlingame  except 
a  most  fitting  instrument  through  which  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  his  contemplated  conquest.  Xor 
did  he,  in  truth,  entertain  a  single  apprehension 
that  his  country,  which  had  become  venerable  by 


58         LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

its  antiquity,  was  about  to  disintegrate  when,  in 
conversation  with  Mr.  Seward  at  Peking,  he 
seemed  possessed  of  this  tragic  fear.  But  he  did 
wish  to  leave  upon  the  mind  of  the  first  statesman 
of  America  the  impression  that  the  Chinese  was 
a  tottering  government,  so  that  no  apprehension 
might  be  entertained,  nor  even  conceived,  that  his 
own  country  meditated  this  astonishing  enterprise; 
and  in  this  he,  Hke  Beaconsfiekl,  succeeded. 

In  looking  into  the  attitude  of  the  Chinese  gov- 
ernment, in  this  matter,  and  reading  fairly  and 
fully  her  intentions,  in  the  light  of  her  conduct, 
the  impression  of  her  national  perfidy  becomes 
irresistible.  Every  detail  of  the  great  conspiracy 
is  protected  with  the  most  consummate  skill. 

That  she  mig-ht  not  lose  the  control  of  her  sub- 
jects  beyond  her  dominions,  if  any  should  feel 
disposed  to  embrace  the  principles  among  which 
they  were  about  to  be  transported,  their  life  and 
death  were  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Com- 
panies which,  as  I  have  shown,  slie  constituted 
her  agents  and  representatives.  These  had  their 
tribunals  for  the  enforcement  of  their  authority  ; 
and  all  infractions  were  visited  with  capital  punish- 
ment. 

The  immigrant  was  forbidden  to  become  a  citi- 
zen,  or  to  agitate  the  matter,  independently  ;  and 
the  few  attempts  at  naturalization,  which  were 
made  by  them  from  time  to  time,  were  put  lor- 
ward  by  the  Companies,  only  to  test  the  temper 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUDLIC.         59 

of  our  laws  upon  this  subject,  and  all  else  to  which 
it  might  directly  appertain. 

It  occasionally  happened  that  an  independent 
spirit  among  the  immigrants,  thirsting  for  that 
liberty  of  thought  and  action  which  characterized 
the  residence  of  all  other  nationalities  in  America, 
broke  through  the  restraints  of  the  sub-o-overn- 
ment,  started  forth  upon  an  independent  career 
and  set  its  authority  at  defiance.  Many  instances 
were  known  in  California  in  which  the  spirit  of 
independence  led  to  individual  insubordination  of 
this  character;  but  a  single  instance  is  not  re- 
corded in  which  the  rebel  did  not  pay  the  penalty 
with  his  life.  The  judicial  tribunals  of  the  Com- 
panies, sitting  in  San  Francisco,  took  testimony 
upon  every  such  case  ;  ond  when  it  was  satisfac- 
torily established  that  the  reported  defection  was 
indeed  true,  a  price  was  put  upon  the  head  of  the 
accused.  An  executioner  was  then  employed, 
who  received,  besides  the  money  appropriated  for 
that  purpose,  the  assurance  that  the  whole  power 
of  the  particular  Company  interested,  would  be 
employed  to  protect  him  from  the  penalty  of  the 
State  laws  in  case  he  should  be  brought  to  answer 
for  murder  before  the  established  criminal  tribu- 
nals ;  that  in  case  of  his  conviction  and  execution, 
his  relatives  were  to  receiv^e  a  certain  fixed  sum  ; 
and  in  case  of  his  incarceration,  the  money  should 
be  retained  for  his  use  and  paid  over  to  him  upon 
his  restoration  to  liberty.     In  conducting  the  exe- 


60  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

•cution,  he  was  to  use  his  own  discretion,  select 
his  own  weapons,  and  appoint  his  own  time  and 
place.  In  fact,  his  commission  was  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  a  command  to  go  forth  and  murder. 

The  Companies  had  not  failed  to  observe  the 
leniency  of  our  criminal  practice  ;  and  so  confi- 
dent had  they  become  of  their  power  to  influence 
the  current  of  justice,  that  an  executioner  was 
always  readily  obtainable. 

The  heads  of  the  agency  were  generally  old- 
time  residents  of  California,  who  understood  our 
language,  and  were  versed  not  only  in  our  cus- 
toms and  habits,  but  were  more  or  less  conver- 
sant with  the  spirit  and  letter  of  our  laws  and  insti- 
tutions generally.  They  had  come  to  understand 
that  law,  and  not  the  sword,  was  the  instrument 
of  civilization  relied  upon  by  the  races  of  Europe 
and  America.  But  they  understood,  likewise,  that 
Gold,  and  neither  Joss  nor  Jesus,  was  the  deity  at 
whose  shrine  the  restless  people  of  California  were 
wont  to  bow.  They  adroitly  combined  these  sug- 
gested characteristics,  and  evolved  the  inference 
that  gold  was  above  the  administration  of  penal 
statutes.  They  accordingly  employed  the  ablest 
counsel  and  paid  the  heaviest  attorney  fees,  as  a 
class,  of  any  people  in  the  State ;  and  hence,  they 
were,  as  litigants,  the  most  successful. 

It  rarely  happened  that  the  executioners  were 
convicted  ;  and  in  no  instance  did  any  one  of  them 
ever  suffer  the    last    penalty  of  the    law  for  his 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         6l 

otfence.  If  a  conviction  was  had,  it  meant  a  sen- 
tence for  life  or  for  years  ;  and  if  for  life,  it  was 
equivalent  to  about  five  years,  but  if  for  years^ 
perhaps  half  that  number  ;  for,  at  the  most  unex- 
pected time,  and  under  the  most  unexpected  cir- 
cumstances, the  Gubernatorial  pardon  was  liable 
to  issue,  and  some  obscure  Chinaman,  convicted 
of  murder,  perhaps,  would  step  forth  free,  while 
less  criminal  Caucasians  were  retained  to  appease 
the  offended  majesty  of  the  statute  against  sheep 
stealing,  or  some  public  offence  equally  heinous. 

It  was  in  this  way  that  a  government  within  a 
government  was  established  ;  or,  in  other  words, 
that  the  jurisprudence  of  China  became  the  law'  of 
her  people  in  California. 

The  relation  which  the  immicrrant  bore  to  the 
Company,  its  agents  and  sub-agents,  was  simply 
the  relation  of  the  slave  to  his  master.  On  the 
one  hand,  the  most  absolute  control ;  on  the  other, 
the  most  abject  submission  and  servility. 

Every  town  had  its  duly-appointed  agent,  whose 
business  it  was  to  keep  himself  informed  as  to  the 
demand  for  Chinese  laborers,  in  whatsoever  de- 
partment ;  to  contract  for  labor  when  opportunity 
offered,  and  to  supply  whatever  labor  might  be 
required  by  demand  upon  the  rendezvous,  at  San 
Francisco.  Upon  receipt  of  such  requisition  the 
necessary  detachment  would  be  forwarded  to  the 
particular  agent,  with  orders  to  report.  The 
Coolies    exercised    no    freedom  —  no    individual 


62  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

volition — but,  upon  their  arrival  at  the  place  of 
destination,  were  lodgred  and  maintained  until 
forwarded  to  the  field  of  labor. 

Their  discipline,  under  these  circumstances,  was 
perfect.  No  military  restraint,  however  severe, 
could  establish  in  the  best  organized  army  a 
greater  respect  for  superiors,  or  a  more  implicit 
obedience  of  orders.  Indeed,  the  provocation  to 
mutiny  was  often  such  as  no  army  of  any  gov- 
ernment with  which  we  are  acquainted  would 
have  suffered  without  protest,  if  it  did  not  openly 
rebel. 

While  unemployed,  the  Coolies  were  always 
maintained  by  the  Companies,  but  in  a  manner 
that  consulted  the  largest  economy.  Their  quar- 
ters were  the  cheapest  that  could  be  procured  ; 
space,  alone,  as  distinguished  from  convenience, 
or  accommodation,  being  the  sole  requisite.  In 
every  instance  the  matter  of  space,  in  this  applica- 
tion, was  economized  with  the  utmost  disregard 
either  for  the  health  or  the  comfort  of  the 
unfortunate  immigrants.  They  were  huddled 
together,  to  sleep  upon  earthen  floors,  scantily 
clothed,  and  without  bedding,  and  often  as  many 
as  ten  or  a  dozen  individuals  to  a  room,  or  dungeon, 
ten  feet  square  and  half  as  many  in  height.  Their 
food  consisted  of  boiled  rice,  with  tea  at  intervals. 

The  inconsistency  of  human  nature  is  well  ex- 
emplified in  the  change  which  is  suddenly  wrought 
in   the   status  of  this  most  abject  and  persecuted 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  6 


0 


slave,  when  for  him  it  comes  too  late  to  alleviate 
the  burden  of  existence,  or  gladden  the  face  that 
had  never  known  a  smile.  No  sooner  has  the 
Angel  of  Death  dragged  perhaps  an  untarnished 
soul  from  its  miserable  habitation  than  the  de- 
spised and  neglected  vassal  of  an  hour  ago  be- 
comes an  object  of  reverence  and  care.  His 
body  is  accorded  a  respectable  interment,  a  modest 
funeral,  and  a  most  elaborate  burial  ceremony  ; 
and  after  the  alien  soil  in  which  he  is  placed  to 
rest,  has  assimilated  the  elements  of  his  flesh,  his 
bones  are  disinterred  and  transported  beyond  the 
Pacific  to  repose  beneath  the  proverbial  flowers 
of  his  native  land. 

But,  widely  different  from  that  of  the  slave  is 
the  picture  of  the  life  of  the  master.  Unlike  the 
mao-nates  of  our  race,  however,  those  of  the  Mon- 
golian  race  are  not  above  occupation.  The  lords 
of  the  sub-government  are  among  the  great 
Chinese  merchants,  importers  and  manufacturers 
of  San  Francisco.  Their  capacity  for  business, 
like  their  authority,  seems  illimitable.  Little  is 
known  of  their  domestic  life,  however — as  their 
homes,  as  a  rule,  are  sacred  from  intrusion — 
beyond  the  fact  that  it  is  luxurious,  but  without 
any  pretence  to  show. 

They  have  invariably  vanquished  opposition 
in  every  department  of  trade  or  manufacture  in 
which  they  have  succeeded  in  educating  their 
people ;    and    no    sooner    has    this    success    been 


64  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

achieved  in  one  department  than  their  energies 
are  directed  to  new  fields. 

Thus,  the  whole  manufacturing  interests  of  the 
State  were  rapidly  passing  into  their  hands;  and 
it  became  only  a  question  of  time  until  the  ab- 
sorption of  all  the  other  branches  of  industry 
would,  in  like  manner,  be  effected. 

The  theoloofical  views  of  the  Coolie,  are  about 
as  incomprehensible  as  his  social  and  political  pe- 
culiarities. That  he  is  devout,  there  can  hardly 
be  a  question  ;  but  his  devotion  seems  to  be  the 
embodiment  of  inconsistency.  His  theoretical 
standard  of  religion  and  morals  will  do ;  but  their 
practical  exercise  and  application  are  quite  intoler- 
able. Their  religion,  they  say,  is  a  pure  Deism  ; 
and  so  it  is,  perhaps.  But  how  this  is  exercised 
by  the  persistent  worship  of  nondescript  figures  of 
impossible  beings,  or  by  the  noisy  annual  festival 
which  is  said  to  have  been  originally  instituted, 
and  is  still  observed,  for  the  purpose  of  conciliat- 
ing familiar  devils,  is  somewhat  difficult  to  explain. 

In  politics  and  morals,  the  wise  sayings  and 
lofty  precepts  of  Confucius  are  the  example  to  be 
imitated.  But  here,  again,  the  perverse  antagon- 
ism of  the  practice  which  adopts  demonology  as 
the  rule  by  which  to  worship  God,  is  manifested. 
The  justice,  the  clemency,  the  virtue,  which  Con- 
fucius taught  by  principle  and  exemplified  by  his 
intercourse  with  his  fellow  men,  are  topics  upon 
which    the  educated    Mongolian   loves  to    dwell. 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         65 

And  yet  that  one  of  them  who  is  armed  with 
authority  is  the  very  incarnation  of  injustice, 
oppression  and  sexual  vice.  In  fact,  in  these 
particulars  he  is  unconscionable.  But  his  wicked- 
ness is  not  appreciated,  because  it  is  not  resisted  ; 
and  it  requires  opposition  to  make  public,  and 
hence  notorious,  the  exercise  of  any,  even  the 
blackest,  private  vice. 

In  this  brief  examination  of  the  Chinese  institu- 
tions in  America,  it  has  been  sought  to  avoid  too 
much  detail  ;  as  a  very  general  review  of  the  sub- 
ject of  Chinese  immigration  to  the  Pacific  States, 
and  only  sufficient  detail  to  throw  light  upon  the 
manner  in  which  it  was  conducted,  and  not  a 
history  of  Chinese  institutions  in  America,  is  the 
purpose  of  this  chapter. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  under  this 
oppressive  system  of  protection  the  hordes  of 
Asia  established  themselves  upon  the  Continent 
of  America,  and  that  their  establishment  here  was 
m  pursuance  of  a  scheme,  having  the  sanction  and 
the  active  support  of  the  Chinese  government, 
for  the  conquest  of  the  whole  Western  Hemi- 
sphere of  the  globe. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Partisan  Strife  and  Sectional  Antagonism The  Growth  and 

Decay  of  Governments Republics  and  Monarchies  Con- 
trasted   What  Washington  Knew  About  Parties Recon- 
struction  Decay  of  Independent  Thought Public  Ex- 
travagance  Chartered  Rights  Construed Fragment- 
ary Demoralization The  Judicial  System Respectable 

Felony Political  Economy. 

Having,  in  the  preceding  chapters,  followed  the 
general  course  of  the  Coolie  immigration,  from  its 
origin  down  to  the  present  date,  with  the  view  of 
presenting  a  comprehensive  picture  of  the  entire 
plan,  it  will  now  become  necessary  to  an  intelli- 
gent appreciation  of  the  remaining  chapters  of  this 
work,  that  a  brief  review  be  had  of  the  tendency 
of  the  political  parties  in  the  United  States.  The 
attitude  of  these  will  be  shown  to  have  operated 
to  draw  aside  the  attention  of  the  government 
from  matters  of  great  moment,  including  the  sub- 
ject immediately  in  hand,  and  their  energies  to 
have  been  wasted  in  the  oro-anization  of  measures 
and  the  perfection  of  schemes  alien,  alike,  to  the 
policy  of  good  government  and  the  welfare,  wants 
and  requirements  of  the  p:^ople. 

In  the  liofht  of  historical  observation  and  the 
logic  of  experience,  it  must  be  conceded  that  gov- 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         6/ 

ernments,  like  all  else  that  has  been  brought  within, 
and  subjected  to,  the  scope  of  the  human  under- 
standing, have  their  periods  of  beginning  and  pro- 
gress, of  maturity  and  decay.  The  history  of  Re- 
publics shows  that  these  periods  are  shorter  in  their 
case  than  are  those  assigned  to  r^Ionarchies;  and, 
it  has  happened,  that  the  more  absolute  the  Mon- 
archy, the  more  protracted  is  the  term  of  its 
national  life. 

This  is  not  only  a  logical  sequence,  but  it  is, 
likewise,  a  fact  taught  us  by  experience.  It  is 
logical,  for  the  reason  that  perpetual  sameness  is 
the  characteristic  of  death  in  nature;  while  in  art  it 
is  the  most  insipid  and  unpopular  of  all  appearances. 

iNIonarchies  change  their  laws,  customs,  and  often 
their  literature  at  every  succession,  without  affect- 
ing the  general  form  of  their  government.  This 
fact  is  well  attested  in  the  history  of  Monarchical 
France,  from  the  reign  of  Henry  IV,  down  to  the 
Revolution,  and  perhaps  equally  so  in  that  of  Eng- 
land, while  yet  two  rival  houses  were  contending 
for  her  throne.  Monarchies  they  were,  and  con- 
tinued to  be;  but  every  successive  reign  brought 
forward  changes  in  the  laws  and  manners  of  the 
country  that  remodeled  nearly  every  institution 
that  marked  their  subordinate  political  complex- 
ions. These  entire  periods,  although  influenced 
and  colored,  at  intervals,  by  the  views  of  each 
sovereign,  respectively,  were  always  wrought  out. 


68         LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

hastened  or  delayed  by  the  temper  of  the  people, 
their  enlightenment  and  their  patriotism. 

Where  hardships  and  oppressions  may  have 
grown  lip  under  a  particular  reign,  the  masses 
look  forward  with  confidence  to  the  accession  of  a 
new  potentate,  through  whom  relief  is  confidently 
expected.  Buckle  tells  us  that  the  French  people 
were  "  wild  with  joy  at  the  death  of  Louis  XIV," 
which  was  simply  the  expression  of  a  hope  of 
better  thinofs  under  the  succeeding-  reio^n. 

The  sentiment  upon  which  this  hope  is  based, 
is  by  no  means  hampered  in  its  resources.  If  it 
cannot  look  forward  to  an  inevitable  change, 
through  which  the  removal  of  the  burden  may, 
reasonably,  be  expected,  it  will  manifest  itself  by 
an  exercise  of  energy  in  some  other  direction. 
This  is,  usually,  the  energy  of  armed  rebellion. 

But,  in  a  Republic,  the  people  being  the  depos- 
itory of  all  political  power,  if  abuses  fasten  them- 
selves upon  her  institutions,  they  are  properly  un- 
derstood to  be  the  deliberate  creation  of  one  or 
the  other  of  the  political  parties  into  which  the 
people  of  a  Republic  are  always  divided.  And 
Avhen  that  party  which  happens  to  control  the  ad- 
ministration seeks  to  perpetuate  those  abuses  and 
its  own  ascendancy  at  the  same  time,  and  to  do  so 
employs  the  whole  of  the  vast  patronage  of  official 
position,  a  deep  and  dangerous  disaffection  is  inev- 
itably planted  in  the  minds  of  the  people. 

Unlike  the  case  of  the   succession  of  a  Prince, 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  69 

which  is  as  inevitable  as  the  death  of  his  prede- 
cessor, there  is  no  certainty  that  the  party  in  power 
will  allow  the  reins  of  government  to  pass  out  of 
its  hands.  This  uncertainty,  combined  with  the 
intolerance  of  party  dictation,  becomes,  first,  galling 
and  then,  insupportable;  and,  in  the  absence  of  a 
hope  upon  which  to  base  a  definite  purpose  of  re- 
form, revolution  sets  in  to  overshadow  the  glory 
of  Republican  freedom. 

The  great  "Father  of  his  Country"  was  wiser 
than  he  knew  when  he  penned  the  following,  which 
is  found  in  his  "Farewell  Address,"  at  the  close  of 
his  second  Presidential  term.     He  says: 

"  I  have  already  intimated  to  you  the  danger  of 
parties  in  the  State,  with  particular  reference  to  the 
founding  of  them  on  geographical  discriminations. 
Let  me  now  take  a  more  comprehensive  view,  and 
warn  you  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  against  the 
baneful  effects  of  the  spirit  of  party,  generall}-. 
The  spirit,  unfortunately,  is  inseparable  from  our 
nature,  having  its  roots  in  the  strongest  passions 
of  the  human  mind.  It  exists  under  different 
shapes  in  all  governments,  more  or  less  stifled, 
controlled  or  repressed,  but  in  those  of  the  popu- 
lar form  it  is  seen  in  its  greatest  rankness,  and  is 
truly  their  worst  enemy.  The  alternate  domina- 
tion of  one  faction  over  another,  sharpened  by  the 
spirit  of  revenge,  natural  to  party  dissension,  is 
itself  a   frightful    despotism.     But   this    leads,  at 


yO  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

length,  to  a  more  formal  and  permanent  despotism 
*  :■.:  :;:  ^q(;J^  sooncr  or  later,  the  chief  of  some 
prevailing  faction,  more  able  or  more  fortunate 
than  his  competitor,  turns  this  despotism  to  the 
purpose  of  his  own  elevation,  on  the  ruins  of 
public  liberty." 

If  the  aggregate  of  the  history  of  the  United 
States,  during  the  entire  period  that  has  elapsed 
since  the  death  of  Washington,  would  show  any  one 
national  tendency  with  special  distinctness,  that 
tendency  would  be  the  disposition  to  contravene 
this  wise  injunction  with  the  most  scrupulous  par- 
ticularity ;  and  this,  notwithstanding  the  historical 
affirmation  that  it  is  only  by  the  exercise  of  the 
most  absorbing  and  jealous  patriotism  that  a  Re- 
public can  ever  hope  to  be  perpetuated  beyond  the 
legitimate  period  of  experiment. 

At  the  close  of  the  first  century  of  Republi- 
can independence,  the  United  States  had  passed 
through  her  periods  of  beginning,  progress  and 
maturity  ;  and  the  beginning  of  the  second  cen- 
tury saw  them  placed  upon  the  incline  of  decay. 
Partisan  bigotry  and  lust  of  power  had  so  thor- 
oughly obscured  those  lofty  principles  of  justice 
and  moderation,  which  are  the  very  life  and  es- 
sence of  Republican  institutions,  that  the  States 
which  had  been  crushed  by  the  overthrow  of  the 
Rebellion,  sixteen  years  before,  were  still  impov- 
erished  and  undergoing   the   galling   process    of 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  7 1 

reconstruction  by  the  coersive  power  of  the  Fed- 
eral Army. 

The  pretence  by  which  this  monstrous  abuse  of 
power  was  sought  to  be  justified,  was  as  base  as 
the  scheme  itself.  The  conquered  States  were 
overrun  by  Revenue  officers,  marshals,  etc.,  and, 
during  the  period  of  their  disfranchisement,  by 
Territorial  civil  officers,  as  Governors,  Judges,  etc., 
far  beyond  the  necessities  of  the  Government,  and 
who  were  often  so  indiscreet  as  to  provoke  un- 
necessary broils  by  the  insolent  exercise  of  doubt- 
ful authority.  These  men  were  invariably  selected 
from  the  most  ultra  wing  of  the  dominant  party. 
Their  integrity  to  party,  and  infidelity  to  all  else, 
without  regard  to  their  qualifications,  in  other  par- 
ticulars, was  generally  the  standard  of  their  fitness 
to  govern  an  unreconstructed  State,  or  to  inter- 
pret the  laws  to  her  people.  In  short,  their  ad- 
ministration, with  few  exceptions,  was  as  infamous 
in  practice,  as  their  political  creation  was  in  theory. 

The  principal  public  journals  of  the  country  were 
subsidized,  and  hence  controlled,  by  this  nonde- 
script political  despotism.  It  likewise  controlled 
the  various  lines  of  telegraph  throughout  the 
Union  ;  and,  in  fact,  every  private  enterprise  which 
could  be  said  to  incorporate  a  public  use,  was,  lor 
the  time,  obedient  to  the  beck  of  the  dominant 
political  party. 

It  followed,  of  necessity,  that  the  party  in  power 
had  supervisory  control  of  all  the  avenues  of  pub- 


72         LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

lie  and  quasi-public  communication.  Its  political 
agents,  the  officials  appointed  to  the  conquered 
States,  manufactured  ad  libitum  the  most  incredi- 
bly atrocious  social  and  political  character  for  the 
people  who  had  been  wicked  enough  to  rebel 
against  the  Government  while  it  was  compara- 
tively virtuous,  and  unfortunate  enough  to  survive 
the  frustration  of  their  criminal  design. 

The  reports  so  manufactured,  passing  only 
through  avenues  which  were  more  disposed  to 
aggravate  than  to  modify,  were  scattered  broad- 
cast over  the  Union,  and  were  the  means  by  which 
the  armed  reconstruction  of  the  Southern  people 
was  sought  to  be  justified. 

To  strengthen  the  power  of  the  ruling  party,  by 
extending  the  patronage  of  the  Government,  new 
offices  were  created,  old  ones  were  multiplied. 

Millions  of  acres  of  the  public  domain  were  do- 
nated to  railroad  corporations,  ostensibly  to  en- 
courage public  improvements.  Unquestionably, 
those  grants  had  this  direct  tendency,  but  the 
advantage  thus  gained  was  more  than  counter- 
balanced by  the  check  occasioned  to  settlement 
and  colonization. 

From  this  cause,  throughout  the  Western  States 
and  Territories,  and  from  the  existence,  in  Califor- 
nia, Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  of  those  immense 
landed  estates  which  were  originally  granted  by 
the  King  of  Spain,  or  by  the  Mexican  government, 
to  individuals,  and  which  had  continued  in  the  pat- 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  73 

entees  or  their  successors,  under  the  treaty,  there 
arose  a  system  of  land  monopoly,  chiefly  in  Cali- 
fornia, which  virtually  repealed  the  beneficent  laws 
heretofore  passed,  for  regulating  settlement  upon 
the  public  domain  and  granting  extraordinary  priv- 
ileges to  actual  settlers. 

The  ownership  by  individuals  and  corporations, 
of  those  princely  estates,  gave  rise  to  new  politi- 
cal disturbances.  The  prerogative  of  taxation 
raises  a  question  that  can  never  fail  to  elicit  the 
interest  of  the  citizen  of  every  shade  of  opinion. 
Should  there  happen,  from  any  cause,  to  be  a  class 
disproportion  in  the  contribution  to  the  expenses 
of  the  government,  it  cannot  be  concealed  ;  and 
argument,  to  justify  any  such  discrimination,  will 
be  worse  than  ineffectual.  Controversy  upon  the 
unequal  valuation  of  lands  began  to  excite  the 
popular  discontent.  The  holders  of  vast  areas  of 
unproductive  land  could  not  afford  to  pay  the  tax 
rate  levied  in  proportion  to  the  scale  by  which 
improved  lands  were  assessed.  Nor  would  the 
inducement  to  lucrative  speculation  admit  of  any 
disposition  of  land  so  held,  as  long  as  the  condi- 
tion of  the  market  indicated  an  upward  tendency. 

It,  therefore,  became  necessary  to  the  land 
monopolist  that  the  Assessors  and  the  Boards  of 
Equalization  be,  at  once,  placed  under  his  control. 
The  engines  of  partisan  intrigue  were,  accordingly, 
set  in  motion,  and  soon  o^round  out  the  necessarv 
decree. 


74         LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

In  California,  landed  estates  embracing  many 
square  miles  of  territory,  were  usually  assessed  at 
a  rate  of  from  one-fifth  to  one-tenth  of  the  esti- 
mated value  of  contio;uous  lands  of  the  same 
quality  and  class,  but  which  had  been  cultivated  or 
improved;  and  yet  these  broad  acres  were  held  at  a 
market,  or  speculative,  value,  ranging  from  twenty 
to  thirty-fold  that  at  which  they  were  assessed. 
As  this  discrimination  was,  virtually,  a  tax  upon 
industry,  it  was  well  calculated  to  array  the  pro- 
ducing class,  not  only  against  the  immediate  acts 
complained  of,  but,  likewise,  against  the  political 
system  and  the  political  institutions  which  could 
dare  to  tolerate  and  exercise  an  injustice  so  oppres- 
sive, without  even  the  semblance  of  disguise. 

In  the  matter  of  transportation,  every  class  of 
carrier,  whether  by  land  or  sea,  learned  to  regard 
the  charter,  under  the  authority  of  which  it  was 
presumed  to  act,  simply  as  a  license  to  carry  freight 
or  passengers.  In  all  else,  the  conduct  of  each 
corporation  was  regulated  with  a  view  to  the 
largest  profits  obtainable,  and  often  in  utter  disre- 
gard of  all  chartered  rights,  privileges,  restrictions 
or  limitations.  Combinations  between  carriers 
were  frequently  formed ;  and  the  pooling  of  rates 
and  the  discriminations  against  persons,  or  locali- 
ties, were  a  source  of  constant  discord  and  public 
controversy. 

In  vain  was  every  effort  of  the  people  to  reform 
those  abuses,  whether  by  State  or  Federal  legis- 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  75 

lation.  Party  platforms,  whether  National  or  State,. 
were  always  profuse  with  the  most  solemn  decla- 
rations of  reform  and  retrenchment.  That  each 
party  aimed  to  '"restore  popular  government,  in 
fact  as  well  as  in  theory,"  had  grown  into  a  figure 
of  speech  ;  and  although  the  representatives  of  the 
people  went  forth  to  the  halls  of  legislation,  thus 
sacredly  pledged  to  alleviate  the  burdens  of  the 
people,  they  were  unable  to  withstand  the  induce- 
ments, held  out,  to  betray  ;  and  so  failed  to  redeem 
a  single  plighted  obligation.  The  creature  had 
become  the  master  of  its  creator  ;  for  combinations 
of  capital  ruled  the  State  and  Federal  govern- 
ments ;  and  these  latter,  by  holding  the  assurance 
of  their  party  ascendancy  from  the  former,  were 
willing  to  be  the  servants,  and  to  allow  the  corpo- 
rations to  indirectly  legislate  for  themselves.  This 
species  of  reflex  action  they  had  the  effrontery  to 
denominate  "Government  by  the  People." 

The  struQfSfle  between  contendinof  factions  at 
length  ran  so  high  that  the  President  elected  by 
one  political  party  was  refused  his  seat,  as  such 
Chief  Magistrate,  by  the  rival  party.  Strange  as 
it  may  seem  to  the  reader  who  is  unacquainted 
with  the  national  characteristics  of  the  American 
people,  this  last  act  of  partisan  cupidity  failed  to 
kindle  the  tire  of  civil  war ;  nor  was  there  left, 
within  the  ranks  of  the  offending  party,  sufficient 
political  disinterestedness  to  acknowledge  a  wrong. 


76  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

in  this  direction,  or  to  brand  the  proceeding  with 
the  mark  of  party  condemnation. 

In  all  the  other  departments  of  the  government, 
the  work  of  demoralization  progressed  apace.  A 
protective  system  was  established  and  maintained 
which  did  open  violence  to  the  plainest  and  most 
universally  admitted  principles  of  political  econ- 
omy. Foreign  manufactures,  except  articles  which, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  could  not  be  produced  in 
America,  were  virtually  excluded.  Nor  was  home 
production  proportionately  encouraged ;  for  the 
imposts  laid  upon  manufactures  was  a  burden  far 
more  oppressive  than  foreign  competition  under  a 
liberal  protective  system.  The  result  was  an  indi- 
rect but  galling  system  of  taxation,  by  which  the 
rate  levied  was  paid  the  moment  any  article 
of  production  or  manufacture  became  the  property 
of  the  consumer. 

It  was  a  most  consummate  scheme,  but  poorly 
disguised,  to  crush  down  the  whole  dependent 
clement  of  society,  and  to  elevate  all  those  who 
might  be  so  fortunate  as  to  exercise  an  independ- 
ent calling. 

Meanwhile,  a  debt  of  more  than  two  billions 
of  dollars  hung  like  a  nightmare  above  the  couch 
upon  which  were  wont  to  repose  the  hopes  and 
aspirations  of  the  people ;  but  repose,  for  national 
industry,  were  an  impossibility  under  the  eye  of 
this  mocking  spectre. 

This  great  national  debt,  secured  by  bonds  pay- 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  "JJ 

able,  principal  and  interest,  in  gold,  was  admirably 
calculated  to  drain  the  resources  of  the  country. 

Auxiliary  institutions  to  aid  in  the  work  of  gov- 
ernment, was  the  hobby  of  the  statesmen  of  that 
period.  It  mattered  but  little  whether  the  direct  ten- 
dency of  the  new  institution  was  to  encourage  or 
to  oppress  the  people  so  long  as  it  was,  strictly,  a 
party  measure,  and  promised  to  contribute  toward 
the  perpetuation  of  party  ascendency.  It  was 
enough  that  there  was  a  sphere  of  action  to  which 
an  institution  might  be  adapted.  The  National 
Bank  scheme  was  evolved  from  some  such  senti- 
ment as  this. 

This  was  an  institution  incorporated  under  a 
Federal  statute ;  and,  viewed  in  its  broadest  sense, 
it  was  subject  to  every  objection  that  goes  to  the 
theory  of  perpetual  motion.  Its  energy  was  the 
energy  of  the  government;  its  capital  the  capital 
of  the  government ;  its  credit  the  credit  of  the 
government ;  while,  of  itself,  it  lacked  even  the 
power  of  motion, — and  yet  it  was  deemed  useful. 
Its  capital  invested  in  government  bonds,  it  was 
relieved  from  the  burden  of  taxation,  other  than  a 
mere  nominal  rate  by  way  of  duty.  It  was  author- 
ized, however,  to  do  a  general  banking  business, 
to  discount  loans,  collect  rates  of  interest,  etc., 
according  to  the  rates  established  by  the  laws  of 
the  State  in  which  such  bank  was  situated. 

This  institution  was  constituted  the  avenue 
through  which  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States 


78  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

communicated  with  the  commerce  of  the  country. 
It  was  endowed  with  extraordinary  privileges  and 
armed  with  extraorchnary  power  over  the  flow  of 
the  currency  of  the  country,  and  maintained  in 
luxury  by  the  moneys  wrung  from  the  necessities 
of  the  commercial  population. 

Another  abuse  peculiar  to  this  age  was  the 
matter  of  official  salaries.  These  were  upon  the 
most  extreme  scale,  when  considered  in  connec- 
tion with  the  standard  of  wages  paid  by  private 
employers.  This  was  specially  noticeable  in  the 
Western  States  and  Territories.  A  sinofle  term  in 
a  very  ordinary  elective  office,  in  most  of  the 
Pacific  States,  was  equivalent  to  a  modest  fortune 
bestowed  upon  the  incumbent. 

Next,  litigation  became  a  luxury  in  which  only 
the  wealthy  could  indulge.  The  fees  payable  in 
the  most  ordinary  action  or  proceeding,  in  the 
courts,  became  so  oppressive  that  only  men  in 
easy  circumstances  could  afford  to  have  their 
rights  vindicated  by  proceedings  in  the  tribunals 
of  justice.  This  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  more 
powerful  a  means  of  oppression  which  the  indigent 
were  made  to  feel,  but  against  which  there  was, 
for  them,  no  remedy  possible.  The  commonest 
controversy  could  be  determined  only  by  courts 
of  competent  jurisdiction,  but  these  were  barred 
against  the  very  class  which,  more  than  all  others, 
needed  their  sustaining  aid. 

Abuses  of  trust,  in  official  position,  had  become 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         79 

SO  common,  that  it  seldom  happened  that  a  public 
officer  retiring  from  position  left  behind  him  a 
stainless  record. 

The  opposition  press,  of  the  times,  was  always 
energetic  in  exposing  partisan  and  political  intidel- 
ity,  and  the  charge  of  dishonest  practices  became 
so  familiar  to  the  reader  of  the  daily  publications, 
of  the  time,  that  the  people  no  longer  seemed 
to  expect  integrity  in  their  public  officers,  but 
sought  to  give  position  to  those  who  would  prove 
least  extravagant  in  the  exercise  of  the  dominant 
passion.  Every  succession  in  office  exposed  a 
new  series  of  defalcations,  which  were  followed 
by  the  usual  arrests,  examinations,  commitments, 
indictments,  demurrers,  continuances  and  final  dis- 
missals. The  great  engines  of  the  law  were  never 
allowed  to  remain  idle  while  an  embezzler  was  at 
large.  It  was  absolutely  necessary  that  he  make 
his  bow  to  the  defrauded  public  through  a  commit- 
ting magistrate  and  a  grand  jury.  This  generally 
sufficed,  however ;  for  the  hand  of  justice  was 
always  readily  checked  before  the  trial  of  the 
criminal  could  be  had. 

It  seemed,  in  truth,  that  general  political  demor- 
alization had  fastened  itself  upon  the  ruling  spirit 
of  the  people.  They  were  divided  into  two  great 
parties,  differing,  originally,  upon  great  principles 
of  constitutional  construction  and  crovernm.ental 
method.  The  degenerate  organizations  that  bore 
the  names  of  those  great  parties  had   lost  sight 


?0  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

of  all  this ;  and  not  one  in  every  one  thousand 
of  the  leading  politicians  of  the  day  could  define 
the  principle  upon  which  his  party  was  presumed 
to  differ  from  the  other.  They  seemed  imbued 
with  no  other  instincts  than  stupid  partisan  antag- 
onism, and  a  passion  for  public  plunder ;  and  if 
they  sought  to  retain  the  Republic  intact,  it  was 
only  that  they  might  plunder  it  still.  It  was.  in 
short,  the  festival  of  capitalists,  banks,  railroads, 
land  monopolists,  stock  gamblers,  corporations 
of  every  shade,  defaulters,  embezzlers,  paupers, 
hoodlums  and  tramps,  —  the  last  two  of  which 
were  creatures  of,  and  peculiar  to,  the  abuses  of 
the  period. 

To  all  these  peculiarities  of  practical  life  was 
added  the  further  moral  fact,  that  the  spirit  of  the 
people  was  fast  forming  itself  to  correspond  with 
the  adaptations  of  the  age.  That  groveling  spirit 
which  is  sometimes  betrayed  by  certain  individuals 
when  brought  into  the  presence,  or  actual  contact, 
of  those  whom  they  are  ignorant  enough  to  believe 
superior  to  themselves,  and  which  is  a  class  char- 
acteristic in  most  of  the  Monarchies  of  Europe, 
was  becoming  painfully  manifest  in  the  ordinary 
intercourse  of  the  people.  This  was  especially 
noticeable  in  the  homage  paid  to  public  officials. 
These  might  be,  and  frequently  were,  men  of  very 
limited  capacity,  in  private  life  and  intrinsically; 
but,  elevated  to  position,  by  the  exigencies  of  par- 
tisan conflict,  they  at  once  became  men  of  rare 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  8 1 

understanding,  in  the  estimation  of  those  often 
their  poHtical  enemies.  This,  "t  will  be  said,  is 
human  nature,  and  a  small  matter  in  itself  All 
this  may  be  true,  but,  aside  from  its  significance  in 
the  present  connection,  it  is  a  useful  observation, 
as  showing  that  the  instinct  of  individual  independ- 
ence in  mankind,  is  but  little  affected  by  the  march 
of  events  ;  and  that  to  the  justice  born  of  race 
enlightenment,  and  not  to  a  developed  individu- 
ality materially  differing  from  that  of  his  ancestors 
of  past  centuries,  is  the  man  of  to-day  indebted 
for  the  liberty  to  which  he  was  born,  in  the  Nine- 
teenth Century. 

It  should  hardly  be  necessary  to  add  that  all  the 
abuses  which  have  fastened  themselves  upon  the 
institutions  of  the  American  Union  in  this  ao-e,  are 
the  direct  and  the  legitimate  result  of  the  great 
contentions  growing  out  of  partisan  differences. 
It  is  a  significant  fact  that  all  those  combinations 
that  wield  vast  political  influence  are  always  in 
harmony  with  the  party  in  power;  always  con- 
ducting its  poHtical  campaigns  and  electing  its 
nominees  to  office.  In  return  for  services  of  this 
nature  the  party  confers  upon  its  benefactor  a  silent 
license  to  draw  from  the  people  its  reward;  to 
paralyze  every  industry,  if  necessary,  to  the  grati- 
fication of  its  avarice  or  the  enforcement  of  its 
ambitious  designs. 

The  foreign  commercial  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment and  its  internal  dissensions,  were  alike  preg- 


82  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

nant  with  danger  to  the  RepubHc ;  but  these  were 
matters  of  secondary  interest  in  the  minds  of  the 
American  statesmen.  Either,  those  questions  had 
not  occurred  to  them,  or  they  had  so  occurred  and 
were  overshadowed  by  the  one  great  question  of 
partisan  domination.  In  vain  that  the  people 
petitioned  Congress  for  rehef;  in  vain  that  the 
Legislatures  of  the  States  were  appealed  to ;  in 
vain  that  they  exacted  of  their  representatives  the 
most  earnest  pledges  to  support  measures  dictated 
by  the  necessities  of  the  hour ;  in  vain  that  our 
once  extensive  commerce  no  longfer  flecked  the 
ocean  with  her  sails;  in  vain  even  the  incursion  of 
the  barbarian  horde  of  Asia  to  enslave  an  already 
impoverished  people, — all  vain  ;  for  the  necessary 
remedy  was  ever  wanting,  and  remedies,  if  pre- 
sented at  all,  must  be  dictated  by  party  expedi- 
ency, and  by  that  alone. 

And  such  was  the  condition  of  American  poli- 
tics, and  such  the  tendency  of  the  classes  and  fac- 
tions— political,  social  and  civil — while  the  State 
was  menaced  by  dangers  that  only  concert  of  pur- 
pose and  of  action,  throughout  every  element  of 
the  people,  could  hope  to  avert. 


CHAPTER    V. 

Immigration  Becomes  Invasion A  Deductive  History Cause 

AND  Effect The  Attitude   of  all  Parties The  Masses 

Become  Threatening  and  Defiant The  Coolie  makes  Pre- 
parations  Legislation  Under  California's  New  Constitu- 
tion  A  Grain  of  Consolation The  Plan  of  Coloniza- 
tion  New  England  and  the  South  Invite  the  Coolie 

Causes  Affecting   Population Platforms   and  Platitudes 

Institutions  that  Begin  to  Topple The  Coolie  Strikes 

FOR  Civil  Rights, 

The  preceding  chapters  have  brought  the  history 
of  the  Chinese  immigration  down  to  the  date  of 
this  writing,  but  it  does  not,  for  that  reason,  become 
necessary  to  close  this  volume,  or  to  abridge  the 
subject  which  it  proposes  to  treat, — simply  because 
the  future  interposes  an  obstacle  to  the  recordation 
of  occurrences  that  have  actually  taken  place. 

That  history  repeats  itself  is  a  truism  that  has 
obtained  intellicjent  recoo^nition,  notwithstandino- 
the  contradictions  which  the  brief  occurrences  of  a 
single  lifetime  so  often  disclose.  The  experiences 
of  a  human  life  are  inadequate  to  prove  any  great 
law ;  but  the  aggregate  experience  of  many  lives 
will  never  fail  to  discover  a  general  repetition  of 
all  the  essential  changes  that  have  stamped  their 
impress  upon  the  history  of  the  human  race. 


84  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

Statistics  gathered  and  observations  made,  abun- 
dantly show  that  there  is  a  law  of  progress,  as 
determinate  in  its  direction  as  is  the  accumulation 
of  years  to  the  goal  of  a  century.  That  the  per- 
ceptible operation  of  this  law  is  nothing  more  than 
the  legitimate  effects  produced  by  the  operation 
of  existing  causes,  or  causes  that  have  existed,  is 
now  as  well  established  as  that  the  orbital  motions 
of  the  heavenly  bodies  are  the  agencies  which 
tend  to  explain  the  recurrence  of  the  solar  or 
lunar  eclipse. 

In  the  preceding  chapters  have  been  examined 
the  ruling  agencies  which  operated  in  two  of  the 
largest  and  most  important  countries  of  the  globe, 
extending  over  a  period  of  twenty  years.  This 
examination  would  justly  be  deemed  imperfect,  or 
incomplete,  if  the  history  of  the  internal  economy 
of  those  States  were  the  object  of  this  review ; 
but  such  it  is  not,  and  it  is  amply  sufficient  for  its 
purpose :  to  explain  the  one  great  movement,  the 
success  or  failure  of  which  must  involve  the  ab- 
sorption of  a  State  and  the  extinction  of  its  civil- 
ization, or  the  frustration  of  a  scheme  of  conquest 
that  stands  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  the 
human  race. 

There  is  no  fact  wanting  in  this  inquiry  from 
which  to  deduce  a  comprehensive  history  of  the 
future,  extending  over,  at  least,  a  period  of  time 
equal  to  that  from  which  the  data  has  been  col- 
lected.    The  conditions  of  both  States  politically, 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         85 

socially  and  civilly,  and  their  minute  interrelation 
have  been  ascertained ;  and  now,  the  effects  which 
must,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  human  events, 
operate  from  without;  the  manifest  tendency  of 
both  peoples  ;  the  causes  which  cast  these  tenden- 
cies and  which  must  ordinarily  continue  to  operate 
in  a  determinate  direction  until  the  energies  lib- 

o 

erated  for  the  purpose,  and  employed,  shall  have 
been  expended ;  the  limit  of  exhaustion  and  all 
that  will  have  been  accomplished  before  it  shall 
have  been  attained, — these,  all,  are  but  the  recital 
of  the  effects  which  ordinary  comprehension,  aided 
by  industrious  inquiry,  is  amply  capable  of  deducing 
from  sufficient  data.  They  are  as  much  the  ascer- 
tainment of  an  effect  from  an  intelligent  under- 
standing of  a  given  cause,  as  is  the  calculation  of 
the  eclipse,  or  the  recurrence  of  the  tides. 

Taking  these  data,  therefore,  and  arguing  from 
them,  in  the  light  of  historical  experience  tem- 
pered by  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  the  hopes,  pas- 
sions, prejudices  and  interests  of  individuals  and 
states,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  obvious  easiness, 
and  one  requiring  the  exercise  of  no  mystical 
attribute,  or  superhuman  prevision,  to  forecast, 
with  considerable  precision,  the  general  outline  of 
the  events  that  remain  to  be  enacted  upon  the 
world's  stage,  to  the  contemporary  applause  of 
generations  as  yet  unborn. 

For  the  purposes  of  this  history,  the  Burlingame 
Treaty,  which  was  ratified  in  1 869,  will  be  adopted 


86  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

to   mark  an  epoch,  by  which  to  enter  upon   the 
march  of  events. 

At  the  date  to  which  this  point  of  history  has 
descended,  viz.:  the  opening  of  the  second  decade, 
there  were  two  measures  emanatino-  from  the 
people,  in  slow,  progressive  action,  arriving  at  the 
suppression  of  Chinese  immigration.  One  of  these 
consisted  in  the  opening  of  diplomatic  correspond- 
ence with  China,  with  a  view  to  the  regulation  of 
Coolie  immigration ;  and  the  other,  a  provision 
embodied  in  the  New  Constitution  of  the  State  of 
California,  pretending  to  give  power  to  the  Legis- 
lature to  adopt  such  Police  regulations  as  might 
suffice  to  grapple  with  the  popular  hardship. 

Pendinof  a  consummation  in  one  or  the  other  of 
these  two  directions,  whence  relief  was  sought,  a 
condition  of  passiveness  settled  down  upon  the 
popular  tumult.  Race  antagonism  had  not,  how- 
ever, in  any  measure  abated.  The  idle  working- 
man  was  very  far  from  satisfied  to  see  his  family- 
suffering  for  the  common  comforts  of  life,  while 
the  source  from  which  he  had  been  accustomed  to 
derive  his  livelihood  was  controlled  by  Coolie 
labor.  But  there  was  nothing  in  the  deportment 
of  the  masses  to  indicate  the  deep  hostility  that 
rankled  in  the  public  mind,  or  the  energy  that 
slumbered  in  the  popular  tranquility.  But  the 
student  of  human  nature,  who  had  watched  the 
current  of  events  for  the  lapse  of  a  few  years, 
would   not  be  guilty  of  an  error  of  judgment  so 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  87 

grave  as  to  accredit  to  popular  acquiescence  the 
absence  of  demonstrative  opposition. 

The  disaffected  populace  throughout  all  this 
period,  never  relaxed  their  military  preparations, 
which  were  conducted  without  any  ostentatious  ex- 
hibition, and  for  that  reason  were,  perhaps,  the 
more  impressive.  But  their  force  was  slowly,  but 
surely  and  gradually  decreasing.  The  necessities 
of  life  compelled  many  to  seek  for  support  in  new 
fields.  The  cities  of  California  offered  no  fields 
for  labor,  which  left  no  alternative  but  emigration 
for  the  great  bulk  of  those  wdio  sought  to  support 
their  families  by  their  daily  earnings. 

The  Great  West  no  longer  seemed  pregnant 
with  a  wealth  of  labor.  Crowded  from  within  the 
city  boundaries,  the  white  artisan  saw  onl)-  a  cheer- 
less prospect  for  forcing  even  a  scanty  existence 
from  the  soil.  Unskilled  in  an  art  peculiar  to 
another  department  of  labor,  he  could  not  hope 
for  success  under  conditions  of  climate,  soil,  and 
competition,  which  had  rendered  abortive  the 
efforts  of  hundreds  of  experts  in  husbandry.  They 
had  made  the  effort  and  failed,  and  around  and 
about  the  scene  of  his  observations,  others  were 
failing,  daily.  They  were  gradually  passing  east- 
ward—  choosing  rather  the  certainties  and  severi- 
ties of  the  Atlantic  sea-board,  than  the  gentle  but 
seductive  uncertainty  of  the  Pacific  slope.  He, 
too,  must  return  ;  and  so,  burying  forever  in  the 
grave  of  bitter  disappointment  all   the  buoyant  as- 


88         LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

pirations  of  his  sanguine  youth  and  independent 
manhood,  the  subdued  pioneer  breathed  a  farewell 
curse  upon  the  nation  of  the  invaders,  and  with  the 
scanty  remnant  of  what  was  once  a  competence, 
looked  his  last  upon  the  seductive  glory  of  a  Pacific 
landscape. 

The  time  for  Congressional  action  was  drawing 
nigh.  This  would  test  the  sincerity  of  the  Federal 
government,  in  the  assurances  heretofore  given  to 
the  people  and  exemplified  by  the  former  measure 
which  had  fallen  under  the  Presidential  veto.  The 
Cabinet  was  in  session,  and  measures  to  be  recom- 
mended in  the  Presidential  messagfe  were  under 
consideration. 

As  the  action  of  Congress  would  be  largely 
influenced,  upon  the  subject  of  Chinese  immigra- 
tion, by  the  facts,  or  circumstances,  embodied  in 
the  message,  the  probable  contents  of  that  instru- 
ment became  the  theme  of  most  anxious  specula- 
tion. The  prevailing  opinion  was  that  the  Presi- 
dent would  discountenance  any  interference  by 
Congress,  in  a  measure  which,  he  had  already 
indicated,  ought  to  be  adjusted  by  diplomatic 
negotiations,  conducted  by  both  governments. 

The  message  thus  foreshadowed,  and  widely 
circulated,  had  somewhat  prepared  the  public  mind 
for  the  'reception  of  its  recommendations,  which, 
had  they  been  suddenly  announced,  might  have 
precipitated  riot.  But  the  instrument  itself  soon 
appeared.     It  pointedly  discountenanced  and  dis- 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         89 

couraged  any  action  by  Congress  before  the 
apparent  complications  should  have  been  duly 
submitted  and  tested  by  diplomatic  correspond- 
ence already  under  way,  and  which  promised  to 
lead  to  a  pacific  and  honorable  settlement  of  the 
difficulty  before  the  people.  The  manner  in  which 
this  message  was  laid  before  the  country  seemed 
to  pluck  the  sting  of  its  disappointment ;  and 
having  failed  to  excite  to  acts  of  violence,  it 
tended  to  the  opposite  course  by  precipitating 
gloomy  distrust  and  silent  apprehension.  That 
Congressional  action  would  be  postponed,  or,  if 
had  at  all,  that  it  would  be  in  conformity  with  the 
views  conveyed  in  the  message,  no  one  seemed  to 
entertain  a  doubt ;  and  that  such  course,  under  less 
asfSfravatinof  circumstances,  would  have  been  emi- 
nently  proper,  and  consistent  with  the  true  spirit 
of  diplomacy,  no  one  cared  to  question. 

But  the  masses  saw  only  that  the  element  of 
uncertainty  which  had  entered  into  the  remedy 
placed  the  time  to  which  they  had  looked  forward 
with  hope,  beyond  the  range  of  definite  calculation. 
Such  were  the  considerations  that  preyed  upon  the 
public  mind  upon  the  Pacific  coast,  and  yet  failed 
to  incite  to  action.  From  this  last  extreme  the 
people  were  restrained  by  the  conviction  that  their 
Constitution  would  effect,  indirectly,  all  that  the 
Federal  government  had  failed  to  do  directly. 

As  had  been  anticipated,  however,  Congress 
adjourned  without  adopting  any  measures,  what- 


90  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

ever,  touching  the  subject  of  Chinese  immigration ; 
and  so  far  as  the  Federal  government  was  con- 
cerned, the  subject  was  doomed  to  drag  its  tedious 
course  through  the  meshes  of  diplomatic  adjust- 
ment. 

The  Chinese  Immigration  Companies  were  not 
inattentive  spectators  of  the  conflicting  local  opin- 
ions to  which  the  consideration  of  this  question 
had  given  rise.  They  readily  caught  up  the  popu- 
lar embarrassment,  and  with  characteristic  shrewd- 
ness availed  themselves  of  the  inactivity  of  the 
opposition,  to  pour  into  the  State  a  continuous 
torrent  of  immif^ration. 

But  they  saw,  too,  that  a  systematic  course  of 
military  discipline  had  been  inaugurated  among 
the  people,  and  they  were  not  ignorant  of  its  real 
import ;  but  if  they  felt  alarm,  it  was  artfully  dis- 
oruised.  That  it  threatened  dancfer  to  the  Chinese 
residents  of  the  Pacific  coast,  and  that  the  uprising 
might  take  place  at  any  moment,  were  speculations 
affirmatively  supported  by  numberless  facts  and 
circumstances  occurring  ever}^  day ;  and  that  only 
the  power  of  the  State  would  avail  to  crush  such 
an  insurrection,  and  prevent  a  bloody  conflict  of 
races,  was  a  result  equally  obvious. 

The  Companies  had  matured  the  conviction  that 
their  countrymen  in  San  Francisco,  if  placed  upon 
the  defensive,  were  numerically  capable  of  making 
an  obstinate  and  powerful  resistance  ;  and  so  they 
determined   that  they  should  not  be  slauglitered 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  9 1 

unresistingly,  when  the  hour  of  conflict  should 
arrive.  They,  accordingly,  set  to  work,  very 
calmly  and  deliberatel}',  to  place  their  people  in  a 
position  for  self  defense.  The  sub-government 
ordered  that  every  man  should  procure,  and  carry 
about  his  person,  such  arms  as  he  could  best 
employ,  in  case  of  emergency.  Revolving  pis- 
tols were  specially  recommended.  Men  were  in- 
structed to  devote  sufficient  time  to  the  inspection 
and  study  of  those  weapons,  to  become  skillful 
in  their  use.  The  implicit  obedience  of  the  Coolie 
to  those  who  have  constituted  themselves  his 
masters,  was  specially  noticeable  in  the  present 
instance.  It  was,  in  this  case,  the  performance  of 
a  duty  under  the  stimulus  of  fear  ;  and  under  the 
influence  of  these  dual  incentives,  the  poor  rabble 
set  about  the  work  of  arming-  themselves  with  the 
utmost  dispatch  consistent  with  the  due  dissimu- 
lation of  their  fears,  to  the  observance  of  which 
strategic  h}-pocrisy  they  had  been  specially  en- 
joined. Those  unable  to  bear  the  expense  of  fire- 
arms, furnished  themselves  with  knives,  or  other 
weapons  of  a  like  character  ;  but  this  failed  to  sat- 
isfy the  watchful  care  of  the  Companies.  They 
accordingly  deemed  it  necessary  to  extend  the 
sub-governmental  aid  to  the  procurement  of  more 
dangerous  weapons,  and  hence  issued  portable 
fire-arms  to  nearly  every  man  upon  their  lists. 
This  work  was  quickly  and  effectively  accomplished, 
so  that  every  laundry  in  San  Francisco,  and  many 


92  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

in  Other  cities  of  the  State,  were  converted  into  as 
many  fortresses,  of  which  the  inmates  were  in- 
structed to  fight,  to  death  itself,  if  necessary,  for 
their  own  protection  against  whatsoever  acts  of 
lawless  violence  they  might  be  called  upon  to 
resist. 

The  first  Legislature  of  California,  organized 
under  the  new  Constitution  of  that  State,  was 
somewhat  conservative  in  the  adoption  of  legisla- 
tion touching  the  Coolie  question.  Certainly,  the 
Constitution,  by  a  fair  interpretation  of  its  terms, 
would  fully  guarantee  measures  much  more  radical 
and  aggressive,  in  this  direction,  than  any  that  had 
been  enacted.  This  was  largely,  if  not  entirely, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  the  moneyed  interests  of  the 
State — familiary  known  as  the  "monopolies" — • 
had  reorganized  their  political  forces  after  the 
slight  oversight,  or  inattention,  by  which  they  had 
allowed  the  masses  to  carry  the  late  constitutional 
campaign  to  a  successful  issue,  and  by  concerted 
action  once  more  succeeded  in  placing  their  chosen 
representatives  in  the  State  Legislature. 

The  body  so  elected  in  more  than  one  particular 
ignored  the  fundamental  law  of  the  State,  and  dis- 
appointed the  people  by  failing  to  adopt  the 
necessary  acts  of  legislation  to  give  operative 
force  to  some  of  the  most  radical  principles  laid 
down  by  the  Constitution.  The  people  began  to 
charge  that  they  had  been  further  betrayed  by  the 
monopolists ;  and,  for  a  time,  the  Coolie  aggrava- 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  93 

tion  was  lost  sight  of  in  the  fervor  of  class  ani- 
mosity and  recrimination. 

Following  this  stage  of  the  political  controversy, 
there  was  but  one  consideration  that  could  be 
clearly  interpreted  as  tending  to  defer  the  inaugu- 
ration of  revolutionary  measures.  It  was  this: 
The  Constitution  embodied  the  provisions,  that 
the  general  elections  throughout  the  State  should 
be  held  on  the  even- numbered  years ;  and  that 
certain  named  offices  should  have  a  term  of  two 
years.     But  as   the  Constitution  was  adopted  in 

1879,  an  odd-numbered  year,  and  as  the  first  gen- 
eral election  under  its  provisions  was  fixed  for 
September  of  the  same  year,  it  followed  that  the 
officers  then  elected  should  hold  office  for  one 
year  less  than  the  absolute  term  of  every  such 
officer.  The  term  of  office  of  members'  of  the 
Assembly  being  two  years,  those  elected  in  1879 
would  be   succeeded  by  others  to  be  elected  in 

1880.  Hence,  the  election  to  take  place  within  a 
few  months  would  determine  the  complection  of 
the  next  Legislature.  If  this  should  seem  favor- 
able to  the  purposes  and  claims  of  the  workino- 
classes,  which  would  be  determined  by  their  suc- 
cess, or  failure,  to  elect  their  candidates,  then  it 
would  be  highly  politic  to  defer  the  inauguration 
of  extreme  measures,  and  leave  the  whole  matter 
to  be  determined  by  legislative  enactments,  still. 
But  should  the  advocates  of  Coolie  immio-ration 
again  carry  the    elections,  and    thus    control  the 


94  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

Legislature  in  their  interest,  as  heretofore,  then, 
and  in  that  event,  the  expediency  of  a  resort  to 
the  last  right  of  a  people,  could  hardly  be  ques- 
tioned. 

Under  this  resolve,  the  j^ublic  mind  once  more 
became  settled  as  to  every  apprehension  of  imme- 
diate acts  of  violence  on  the  scale  of  rebellion ; 
but  so  far  did  this  sentiment  fall  short  of  restoring 
confidence  to  the  people,  that  values  continued  to 
fall,  and  remained  so  depressed  that  the  State 
became,  to  an  unprecedented  extent,  the  purchaser 
of  lands  and  homesteads,  which  were  suffered  to 
go  to  sale  to  satisfy  her  claims  for  delinquent 
taxes. 

The  laboring  classes  now  began  to  reorganize 
their  party,  with  greater  care  and  industry  than 
heretofore,  for  what  many  of  them  apprehended 
might  be  their  last  political  effort  in  California. 
Their  party  organization  had  already  established 
for  itself  political  recognition  throughout  all  the 
cities  and  towns  of  the  State,  but  the  country  dis- 
tricts were  not  so  well  organized  in  its  support. 
An  active  canvass  was  therefore  instituted,  which 
occupied  the  whole  attention  of  the  party;  and 
ao^ain  the  Coolie  was  left  for  a  time  to  the  undis- 
turbed  enjoyment  of  his  industrious  callings. 

Throughout  all  this  turmoil,  one  pursuit  of  the 
sub-government,  and  by  far  the  most  important 
and  suggestive,  was  not,  for  a  moment,  overlooked 
or  neglected.     This  was  the  practical  work  of  im- 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  95 

migration.  Every  steamer  from  the  East  landed 
its  hundreds  of  CooHe  immigrants  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, while  Chinese  junks,  and  other  sailing  craft, 
landed  their  human  cargoes  at  all  the  sea-ports  of 
California  and  Oregon.  The  State  was  rapidly 
filling  up  with  this  element;  so  much  so,  that  from 
the  most  reliable  statistics  that  could  be  obtained 
it  was  shown  that  the  Chinese  residents  of  Cali- 
fornia made  up  more  than  one-third  of  the  whole 
male  population  of  the  State. 

About  this  time  the  scheme  of  immigration  de- 
veloped a  new  phase.  Another  step  had  been 
taken  in  the  great  scheme  of  colonization.  The 
Companies  had  begun  to  extend  their  labor  con- 
tracts east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Large  de- 
tachments of  laborers  were  sent,  from  time  to  time, 
not  only  to  the  Middle  and  Western  States  and  the 
Territories,  but  even  New  England  had  volun- 
tarily risked  her  cherished  forms  of  Christian  ob- 
servance by  inviting  contact  with  the  invincible 
heathen  element.  She  ordered,  and  had  imported, 
to  further  pauperize  her  laboring  myriads,  an  ex- 
perimental remittance  of  the  Coolie  laborers. 

But  the  field  that  held  out  the  most  flatterino- 
promise  to  that  wonderful  people  was  the  whole 
territory  which  had  lately  comprised  the  slave 
States.  The  Coolie  had  been  tried  and  found  to 
be  in  every  manner  superior  to  the  Negro.  Add- 
ed to  this,  the  former  had  not,  as  yet,  developed 
a  taste  for  politics;  while  the  latter,  growing  from 


96         LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

bad  to  worse,  had  finally  advanced  to  such  a  stage 
of  political  development,  that  the  time  and  atten- 
tion which  he  should  devote  to  labor  was  thrown 
away  in  the  fruitless  effort  to  ape  the  partisan 
intrigues  of  his  white  exemplars. 

The  demand  for  Coolie  labor  was  growing  so 
rapidly  in  this  direction,  that  it  promised  to  soon 
invite  further  supply.  For  the  present,  the  estab- 
lished industries  of  California  could  maintain  no 
greater  Chinese  population.  Every  department  of 
labor  was  glutted,  and  to  give  further  employment 
new  industries  must  be  created  or  old  ones  multi- 
plied. All,  or  nearly  all,  the  available  lands  lying 
in  the  neighborhood  of  towns  or  cities  were  already 
in  the  hands  of  the  Coolie  cultivators,  either  as  the 
owners,  in  fee,  or  tenants  of  citizens  who  were 
compelled  to  abandon  the  pursuits  of  husbandry 
under  the  pressure  of  Coolie  competition. 

While  no  effort  was  made  to  create  new  indus- 
tries, the  pursuit  of  agriculture  was  gradually  rising 
in  favor;  but  the  development  in  this  direction 
was  not  sufficient  to  accommodate  the  rapid  in- 
crease of  population.  Internal  immigration  had 
become  a  necessity  to  the  march  of  events;  so 
that  the  Pacific  Slope  soon  ceased  to  limit  the 
servient  territory  upon  which  the  charge  of 
Coolieism  was  imposed. 

The  coil  of  the  Asiatic  serpent  was  gradually 
encircling  the  entire  body  of  the  victim,  now  vir- 
tually within  its  grasp.     The  touch  was  not  yet  so 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         9/ 

rude  as  to  startle,  nor  so  real  as  to  horrify  ;  but  the 
danger  was  only  the  more  imminent  that  it  was  so 
well  disguised.  The  day  was  not  far  distant  when 
the  constrictor  would  relax  its  folds  to  feast  upon 
the  noble  captive  that  too  long  had  dallied  with  its 
shrinking   touch,  and  invited  its  deadly  embrace. 

California  was  not  yet  reduced  in  theory,  but 
in  fact  her  industries  had  passed  out  of  the  hands 
of  her  citizens,  and  she  was  gradually  becoming 
the  distributing  point  whence  the  institution  ot 
Coolieism  should  be  extended  throughout  the 
whole  Republic. 

The  white  population  no  longer  continued  to 
increase  ;  white  immigration  had  ceased  ;  and  the 
causes,  which  under  a  healthy  system  at  home, 
would  have  operated  to  swell  the  population,  had 
likewise  terminated  ;  for,  marriage  had  almost 
fallen  into  disuse.  Laboring  men  would  not  as- 
sume the  responsibilities  of  the  marriage  relation, 
in  the  face  of  the  uncertainties  that  prevailed  ;  and 
homes  and  families  became  an  impossibility.  The 
semi-barbarous  "  tramp  "  and  "  hoodlum,"  were  all 
that  was  left  to  represent  a  generation  whose  an- 
cestors had  conquered  a  wilderness  to  build  up  a 
State,  which  was  the  first  to  carry  modern  civiliza- 
tion to  the  Pacific  shores  of  the  American  conti- 
nent— a  pitiful  mockery  of  a  glorious  memory. 

The  result  of  the  election  of  1880  inspired  fresh 
hopes  in  the  minds  of  the  masses  throughout  Cali- 
lornia.     Not  only  the  indigent  laborer,  but  many 


98  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

among'  the  wealthy  citizens  of  the  country,  whose 
patriotism  was  still  superior  to  their  avarice,  had 
begun  to  watch  and  study  with  secret  alarm  the 
intrenchment  of  the  institution  of  Coolieism.  Ac- 
cordingly, when  the  masses  had  announced,  as  one 
of  the  principles  of  the  party,  that  their  candidates, 
particularly  those  aspiring  to  the  Legislature,  should 
pledge  themselves  to  use  every  honorable  and 
lawful  means  to  carry  into  effect  the  full  spirit  and 
intent  of  Article  XIX  of  the  Constitution,  they 
happened  to  touch  upon  a  sentiment  rapidly  grow- 
ing in  popularity.  Their  leading  men  were  not 
slow  in  perceiving  this  slight  promise  of  an  ad- 
vantage, and  unreservedly  pledged  themselves,  as 
did  all  aspirants  to  office,  through  this  party,  to 
make  this  one  object  paramount  to  all  others. 

The  utter  boldness,  and  entire  absence  of  com- 
promise or  equivocation,  on  the  part  of  their 
public  men,  was  a  diversion  which  could  be  rel- 
ished by  a  people  who  had  grown  weary  of  the 
empty  platitudes  of  the  average  political  assem- 
blages of  the  day  —  from  the  group  of  politicians 
at  the  street  corner,  to  the  Senate  itself.  The 
new  spirit  seemed  to  arouse  a  sentiment  which, 
had  it  sprung  forth  to  shake  the  political  structure 
ten  years  earlier,  as  it  now  seemed  destined  to  do, 
would  have  left  no  material  for  this  history. 

The  result  was,  that  the  laboring  classes,  and 
those  in  sympathy  with  them,  succeeded  in  elect- 
ing a  large  majority  of  the  Assembly.     This  end 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  99 

being  achieved,  the  people  began  to  look  forward, 
with  some  anxiety,  to  the  time  when  the  Legis- 
lature should  convene.  Some  time  must  yet 
elapse  before  the  genius  of  the  movement  could 
be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  one  absorbing  ques- 
tion. The  distress  of  the  people,  meanwhile,  grew 
apace ;  and  their  dissatisfaction,  and  consequent 
dispersion  to  the  Eastern  States,  continued;  but, 
in  each  case,  upon  an  aggravated  scale,  if  possible. 

If  there  was  any  phase  of  this  period  which  was 
particularly  noticeable,  it  was  the  rapidity  with 
which  grave  and  significant  events,  bearing  upon 
the  great  problem  of  the  hour,  arose  in  succession 
above  the  horizon  of  chaotic  political  speculation. 
Others  than  the  laborers  of  the  country  now  beo-an 
to  fear  that  the  limitless  immigration  license  was, 
for  some  reason,  a  mistake  ;  but  this  discovery  was 
made,  not  by  logical  deduction,  but  by  a  far 
stronger  argument,  the  logic  of  living,  practical 
experience.  The  Coolie  had  entered  the  contest 
against  the  unskilled  white  laborer,  and  had  been 
acknowledged  the  victor.  He  next  usurped  the 
domain  sacred  to  the  artisan,  and  victory  again 
consecrated  his  efforts.  It  was  at  this  staee  that 
the  white  laborer,  by  act  as  well  as  by  declaration, 
acknowledged  himself  no  longer  capable  of  con- 
ducting the  competition. 

In  another  respect,  too,  the  Coolies  had  ob- 
tained the  mastery.  In  point  of  numbers  they 
surpassed  the  citizen  laborers ;  which  latter  class 


lOO  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

gradually  left  the  painful  record  of  its  decadence 
upon  the  institutions  of  the  State.  The  first, 
and  grandest  of  these  institutions,  the  Common 
Schools,  were  becoming  crippled;  not,  indeed,  in 
the  spirit  of  the  institution,  considered  in  a  theo- 
retical sense,  but  practically.  The  attendance  had 
fallen  off  nearly  one-half.  The  modest  children 
of  the  yeoman,  in  their  calico  suits,  and  the  bois- 
terous, bare-footed,  but  cheerful  urchin  of  former 
days  had  nearly  gone  for  aye.  With  the  decrease 
of  attendance  came  the  decrease  of  schools,  and 
thus  an  army  of  teachers  —  almost  exclusively 
women,  and  nearly  unfitted  for  any  other  sphere 
of  life  —  was  sent  adrift  to  participate  in  the  gen- 
eral ruin  that  was  rapidly  casting  its  shadow  over 
the  land. 

Added  to  all  this,  a  movement  was  now  put 
upon  foot,  among  their  leaders,  to  procure  for  the 
Coolie  the  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise.  This 
disposition  had  not  yet  assumed  a  practical  form, 
but  the  expediency  of  the  measure  had  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  Asiatic  government,  and  approved ; 
and  it  only  remained  to  give  it  practical  direction, 
when  the  sagacity  of  the  Chinese  statesmen,  at 
home,  should  deem  its  success  assured,  before- 
hand. The  perfection  of  this  design  would  place 
the  politics  of  California  largely  in  the  hands  of  the 
Chinese  Mandarins.  The  industrial  interests  of  the 
country  had  fallen  into  their  hands,  by  a  species 
of  absorption ;  and  the  same  insatiate  power  now 
aimed  at  political  domination — and  not  in  vain. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

March  of  the  Conquest The  People  Invoke  Legislation 

Modification  of  the  Naturalization  Laws Trans-Pacific 

Intrigues Chinese  Citizenship The  Federal  Courts  on 

the  California  Constitution The  Laboring  Element  in 

Arms First  Battle  of  the  Revolution Statesmanship 

OF  the  Period Coolie  Ascendancy  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Trade  with  the  East Mandarins  in  Congress The 

Coolie  at  the  South. 

The  hour  for  the  convention  of  the  Legislature 
at  length  drew  near.  More  than  half  of  that  body 
was  now  pledged  to  support,  under  the  Nineteenth 
Article  of  the  Constitution,  measures  for  the  sup- 
pression of  Chinese  immigration  into  the  State  of 
California.  There  could  be  but  little,  if  any,  doubt, 
as  to  what  the  immediate  action  of  the  Legislature 
would  be.  That  a  law,  intended  to  restrict,  in 
some  manner,  the  irruption  of  the  subjects  of  the 
Chinese  Empire  upon  the  shores  of  the  State, 
would  be  enacted,  no  one,  for  a  moment,  felt  dis- 
posed to  doubt;  but  then  came  the  question:  Will 
it  be  enforced? 

That  the  Federal  government  will  never  permit 
a  State  to  dictate  an  international  measure,  for  her 
own  advantage,  and  hence  that  the  forthcoming 
legislation  will  be  an  idle  attempt,  was  the  pre- 


I02  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

vailing  opinion.  In  a  moral  sense,  too,  her  states- 
men argued,  and  with  much  reason,  that  to  sup- 
press this  immigration,  even  by  Federal  enactments, 
would  be  to  present  the  novel  feature  of  the  ex- 
pulsion of  a  people  because  of  their  enterprise; 
for  it  is  their  enterprise,  their  thrift,  their  industry, — 
in  short,  their  virtues,  that  have  made  them  invin- 
cible and  insupportable,  and  not  the  exercise  of 
any  degrading  or  vicious  habit. 

It  was  this  view  which  rendered  the  Chinese 
question  so  difficult  of  definite  adaptation;  and  it 
is  hardly  presumptions  to  advance  the  opinion,  in 
connection,  that  no  consideration,  short  of  positive 
demonstration  that  the  popular  grievance  was 
otherwise  irremediable,  would  have  justified  any 
exercise  of  administrative  authority,  either  to  sup- 
press or  to  limit  the  immigration  of  a  people  so 
eminently  adapted  to  the  sphere  of  life  which  the 
Coolie  had  heretofore  occupied,  in  the  United 
States,  and  the  fullest  occupation  of  which,  the 
prosperity  of  the  country  so  largely  demanded^ 
But  this  demonstration  was  not  wantino;  to  those 
who  would  suffer  themselves  to  be  convinced;  and 
as  yet  that  class  constituted  but  an  infinitesimal 
fraction  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and 
was  confined  to  a  few  communities  upon  the  Pa- 
cific Coast. 

The  government  of  the  State  of  California  was 
now  in  the  hands  of  this  class;  and  it  proceeded 
to  enact  laws  that  would  give  practical  direction 


LAST   DAYS   OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  IO3 

to  its  convictions.  For  the  prosecution  of  this 
project,  it  had  the  warrant  of  the  State  Consti- 
tution. 

When  that  instrument  provided,  "That  the 
presence  of  foreigners,  inehgible  to  become  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States,  is  declared  to  be 
dangerous  to  the  well-being  of  the  State,"  it  sim- 
ply asserted  the  true  spirit  of  the  naturalization 
laws  of  the  United  States,  as  interpreted  by  the 
United  States  courts;  and  when  it  directed  the 
Legislature  to  "prescribe  the  necessary  regula- 
tions for  the  protection  of  the  State  "  *  *  * 
"from  aliens  otherwise  detrimental  to  the  well- 
being  and  peace  of  the  State,  and  to  impose  con- 
ditions upon  which  such  persons  may  reside  in  the 
State,  and  to  provide  the  means  and  mode  of 
their  removal  from  the  State,  upon  failure  to  com- 
ply with  such  conditions,"  it  simply  gave  expres- 
sion to  its  sovereign  will,  which  the  Federal  courts 
have  recognized  the  right  of  a  State  to  enforce, 
for  its  own  protection. 

But  the  destinies  of  nations  have  always  been 
determined,  rather  by  the  power  that  overrides 
the  laws  than  by  any  attribute,  or  instinct,  of  obe- 
dience to  them.  The  fate  of  the  great  American 
Republic  was  in  the  balance,  and  its  laws  had 
assumed  the  dictation  of  her  affairs.  Internal  dis- 
cord and  political  and  social  strife  had  divided  the 
people,  at  the  very  hour  when  only  the  most  com- 


104  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

plete  harmony  could  have  parried  the  stroke  of 
destiny. 

The  Legislature  passed  a  series  of  laws  cover- 
ing every  requirement  for  the  public  protection 
from  the  hardships  of  Coolieism,  so  far  as  guar- 
anteed by  the  Constitution. 

But  while  these  measures  were  in  process  of 
enactment  at  the  Capital  of  the  State  of  California, 
another,  and  a  very  different  order  of  events  was 
occurring  at  the  National  Capital.  Under  the 
Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Amendments  to  the 
Federal  Constitution,  the  power  to  extend  the 
privileges  of  the  naturalization  laws,  to  embrace 
any  people,  whatsoever,  was  vested  in  Congress. 
These  laws  had  thus  far  confined  the  privileges 
of  citizenship  to  Whites  and  Africans ;  and  that 
they  clearly  discriminated  against  the  Mongolian 
was  established  by  judicial  interpretation,  in  the 
Federal  Courts.  The  enactment  by  which  these 
laws  were  amplified  so  as  to  embrace  the  African, 
were  peculiarly  special  to  that  race  ;  while  in  every 
other  respect  the  original  Act  remained  unaltered. 
The  elective  franchise  being  thus  conferred  on 
a  race,  by  special  enactment,  all  others  were  ex- 
cluded by  direct  implication. 

But  the  measure  formerly  advocated  by  the 
great  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  Mr.  Sumner, 
was  now  revived:  to  amend  the  Naturalization 
Laws,  by  striking  out  the  word  "  White."  During 
the  agitation  in  the  Senate  over  this  measure,  the 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  IO5 

Chinese  Embassy  at  Washington  were  unofficially 
reinforced  by  some  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  Em- 
pire, who  came  unannounced  in  diplomatic  circles ; 
ostensibly  to  study  the  manners  and  customs  of 
the  American  people,  of  whose  greatness  they 
were  wont  to  fei^n  an  undisofuised  admiration. 

From  some  cause,  that  accident  may  reveal,  but 
which,  for  the  present,  is  lost  in  the  uncertainty 
of  conflicting  opinions,  contemporaneously  with 
the  arrival  and  establishment  of  this  Mandarin 
corps  of  observation,  the  tone  of  Congress  upon 
the  question  of  indiscriminate  naturalization  be- 
came wonderfully  liberalized.  This  liberality  soon 
developed  into  advocacy,  until  finally  every  term 
and  vesticre  of  distinction  as  to  color  and  race  were 
swept  from  the  naturalization  laws  of  the  United 
States. 

The  ofreat  obstacle  to  free  immicrration  beinof 
now  removed,  and,  by  the  same  stroke  that  had 
leveled  that  barrier,  the  shackles  of  political  dis- 
ability being  stricken  forever  from  the  Mongolian 
race,  the  great  empire  of  the  East  was  now  in 
position  to  turn  loose,  without  the  shadow  of 
reserve,  the  flood-gates  of  her  pent-up  human 
torrent.  .She  awaited,  now,  only  the  final  settle- 
ment of  the  question  raised  in  California,  before 
she  should  order  the  work  of  naturalization  to  be 
begun,  and  thus  further  amplify  the  great  plan  of 
emigration  already  in  successful  operation. 

Of  the  final  result  she  had  not  a  doubt,  but  pre- 


I05  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

ferred  to  allow  the  writhino;  nation  to  strano-le 
itself  into  a  condition  of  comparative  passivity — 
to  have  the  death- scene  rather  of  the  nature  of  a 
suicide  than  of  a  murder.  It  was  determined, 
however,  that  the  remaining  issue  should  be 
forced  to  a  trial  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment. 
Then,  the  status  of  citizenship  would  protect  the 
Coolie  in  America — would  give  him  a  political 
status  that  would  make  him  a  part  of  the  power 
upon  the  throne,  instead  of  wholly  a  power  behind, 
as  heretofore. 

The  fate  of  California's  anti-Coolie  enactments 
was,  indeed,  virtually  decided  by  this  action  of 
Congress,  and  the  disposition  of  the  Federal  Ex- 
ecutive in  relation  to  the  great  controversy  before 
the  country.  A  suit,  to  test  the  constitutionality 
of  the  California  enactments,  was  already  pending 
in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  District  of  California, 
involving  the  whole  question  in  dispute.  The 
cause  was  hurried  to  a  hearing ;  both  sides  being 
anxious  for  the  decision  of  the  courts  upon  the 
questions  involved.  On  both  sides  the  cause  was 
presented  with  great  ability  and  energy.  Over 
one  hundred  of  the  ablest  counsel,  from  all  parts 
of  the  Union,  were  retained  by  the  Chinese  Com- 
panies to  represent  their  interests  in  this  litigation. 
The  struggle  was,  in  this  respect,  a  most  unequal 
one.  The  whole  wealth  and  influence  of  the  Chi- 
nese sub -government,  representing  the  Imperial 
government  at  home,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        lOJ 

with  which  was  allied  the  Federal  government 
here,  against  the  people  of  the  State  of  California. 
The  result  could  hardly  have  been  doubted.  The 
battle  had  already  been  fought  at  Washington. 
But  now,  the  last  hope  of  a  sovereign  people  was 
shattered ;  for  the  decision  declared  null  and  void 
Article  XIX  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of 
California,  as  in  contravention  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  in  direct  and  open  viola- 
tion of  the  (Burlingame)  treaty  obligations  of  the 
government. 

The  laboringf  masses,  or  rather  the  remnant  of 
what  once  was  the  laboring  element,  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, on  the  one  side,  and  the  Chinese  on  the 
other,  seemed  to  realize,  as  if  by  instinct,  that 
upon  this  decision  rested  the  gravest  question  ever 
presented  in  California,  since  the  race  conflict 
began ;  and  that  a  physical  conflict  of  the  two 
elements  would  ensue,  seemed,  now,  inevitable. 

As  soon  as  the  decision  of  the  Court  was  an- 
nounced, declaring  void  that  provision  of  the 
Constitution  upon  which  so  much  labor  had  been 
expended  and  so  many  hopes  raised  up,  the  wild- 
est excitement  at  once  took  possession  of  the 
people.  Despair,  resentment,  disappointment — 
stimulated  by  physical  deprivation  such  as  hereto- 
fore converted  human  into  brute  nature,  urged  the 
people  on  to  insurrection.  No  doubt,  the  popu- 
lace was,  at  this  period,  imbued  with  the  true  spirit 
of  revolution — that  spirit  which,  distinguished  from 


I08        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

that  of  insurrection  or  revolt,  while  the  student 
of  history  may  deprecate,  he  will  never  condemn. 
No  doubt,  but  that  those  enofao-ed  believed  them- 
selves  justified  in  this  last  appeal  for  redress  or 
protection.  No  doubt,  but  that  the  causes  which 
impelled  to  this  were  to  the  last  degree  calculated 
to  exasperate ;  but  the  remedy  proved  too  tardy 
of  application. 

The  last  available  man  which  the  clubs  of  the 
people  could  muster  fiew  to  arms  and  formed  on 
the  suburbs  of  San  Francisco.  News  of  the  up- 
rising was  hurried  over  the  lines  to  every  part  of 
the  State,  and  troops  were  ordered  to  San  Fran- 
cisco to  assist  in  suppressing  the  disturbance.  A 
masterly  disobedience  of  orders  was  the  whole 
and  only  result  of  that  military  mandate.  But  in 
San  Francisco,  the  State  militia  were  immediately 
placed  under  arms  and  awaited  orders  to  march. 
Barricades  erected  upon  the  principal  streets  by 
the  engineers  of  the  clubs,  were  torn  away  by  the 
militia,  but  immediately  erected  again,  at  other 
points,  to   obstruct  the  movements  of  the  latter. 

Meantime,  the  Chinese  quarter  was  one  great 
scene  of  activity  and  commotion.  All  the  ap- 
proaches were  blockaded,  and  breast-works  of 
such  materials  as  could  be  gathered  up,  were 
erected,  at  intervals,  within  the  barricaded  district, 
or  enclosure.  Crowds  of  armed  Coolies,  to  the 
number  of  four  thousand  men,  occupied  not  only 
those  breast-works,  but  also  the  doors,  windows, 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  IO9 

and  roofs  of  buildings,  commanding  the  several 
approaches  to  the  barricades. 

The  laborers'  arm}-,  numbering  fifteen  hundred 
men,  was  at  length  ordered  to  march  to  the  Chinese 
quarter.  A  force  of  five  hundred  men  was  detached 
with  orders  to  obstruct  any  attempt  of  the  militia 
to  interfere.  The  Chinese  were  duly  apprised, 
through  their  spies,  of  the  advance  movement 
aofainst  their  habitation,  and  retired  to  awake  the 
attack.  As  the  assailants  neared  the  barricade,  a 
deafenine  clatter  of  Chinese  musical  instruments 
rang  out,  accompanied  by  a  murderous  fire  from 
windows  and  house-tops,  into  the  approaching 
ranks.  Unable  to  return  the  fire  with  any  effect, 
the  attacking  columns  rushed  upon  and  scattered 
the  barricade  and  first  line  of  breast-works,  when 
they  received  a  second  volley,  not  only  from  fire- 
arms, in  this  instance,  but,  having  come  within 
ranee  of  missiles,  of  Chinese  stench  and  fire-balls, 
as  well. 

A  prudent  commander  would  probably  have  re- 
treated in  the  best  order  possible,  and  reformed 
his  forces  for  an  attack  at  somewhat  better  advan- 
tage ;  but  no  such  generalship  characterized  the 
present  attack.  The  pent-up  fury  of  a  score  of 
years  had  maddened  the  people,  at  this  moment  of 
its  effervescence ;  and  every  personal  and  moral 
consideration  was,  for  the  time,  annihilated. 

The  assailants  felt  only  that  they  had  been 
robbed  of  the  possibility  of  obtaining  a  livelihood 


I  lO       LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

for  themselves  and  their  families,  in  the  land  of 
which  they  were  proud  to  be  citizens;  and  they 
fancied  that  they  saw  before  them,  in  the  persons 
of  a  few  thousand  Coolies,  the  plunderers  of  their 
birthright.  They  had  sought  to  chastise  that  mis- 
erable race,  and  now  it  had  dared  to  resist,  and 
with  terrible  effect.  It  was  no  time  to  think  of 
strategy,  or  generalship,  when  men  were  reaching 
out  for  venofeance. 

Breastwork,  after  breastwork,  was  scattered  by 
the  assailants  in  their  advance;  and  the  few  Coolies 
who  had  attempted  to  withstand  the  rushing  col- 
umns at  the  breastworks,  or  barricades,  were 
incontinently  shot  down  or  bayoneted.  But  the 
struggle  was  only  a  type  of  the  many  that  would 
follow  before  the  close  of  the  conquest.  No  hand 
to  hand  opposition  was  encountered  by  the  assail- 
ants; yet  at  every  step  their  numbers  were  deci- 
mated by  a  galling  fire,  by  vastly  superior  num- 
bers, directed  from  housetops  and  windows. 

But  now  came  the  final  disaster.  The  militia 
had  cut  its  way  through  every  obstacle  and  reached 
the  Chinese  quarter  while  the  conflict  was  at  its 
height.  The  leaders  were  summoned  to  surrender, 
and  upon  their  refusal  to  listen  to  terms,  an  attack 
by  the  militia  w^as  begun  upon  the  rear  of  the  mob. 
Thus,  to  virtual  defeat  by  the  Chinese  was  added 
ignominy  and,  what  seemed  injustice;  and  the 
assailed,  now,  no  longer  caring  for  aught  save 
vengeance,  turned  upon  the  militia.     Only  a  few 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  I  I  I 

hundred  were  left,  and  these  fought  until  their 
ammunition  became  exhausted,  and  afterwards 
with  fixed  bayonets,  until  they  were  overpowered 
and  captives  made  of  all  who  were  not  slain. 

Thus  ended  the  first  physical  struggle  of  the 
conquest;  and  the  names  of  its  heroes  must  go 
down,  branded  with  infamy,  because  a  short- 
sighted generation,  incapable  of  interpreting  their 
action  or  appreciating  its  incentive,  will  record 
their  history. 

They  flew  to  arms,  it  is  said,  for  the  love  of 
riot;  for  the  establishment  of  lawlessness;  for  the 
propagation  of  agrarianism,  and  for  the  gratifica- 
tion of  race  prejudice.  But  a  graver  error  of 
judgment,  and  a  greater  wrong  to  the  memory 
of  the  country's  patriots  nowhere  stains  the  pages 
of  her  history.  As  the  representatives  of  the 
governed  class  they  took  up  arms,  not  against  the 
governing  class,  but  against  existing  errors  which 
they  were,  themselves,  called  upon  to  suffer.  For 
years,  the  condition  of  this  class  of  citizens,  upon 
the  Pacific  Coast,  could  hardly  be  properl)^  named 
''living;"  it  would  have  been  better  expressed  by 
saying  of  them  that  they  "  existed."  With  scant 
food  and  insufficient  raiment,  they  struggled  to 
maintain  the  comforts  of  home,  and  family  associ- 
ation. This  struoforle  was  not  a  contest  such  as 
would  characterize  a  race  of  cowards,  or  innate 
criminals;  but,  its  prosecution,  in  the  face  of  every 
obstacle,  when  unillumined  even  by  a  solitary  ray 


I  1 2  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

of  hope  that  did  not  shine  through  the  medium  of 
doubt  and  uncertainty,  proved  it  to  have  been  the 
struggle  of  a  race  of  moral  giants.  In  this  strug- 
gle against  want,  and  for  the  questionable  privilege 
of  an  unendowed  existence,  the  parents  were  con- 
demned, in  a  land  of  abundance,  to  see  their  chil- 
dren, yet  in  their  legal  infancy,  pass  from  beneath 
their  care  to  struo-orle  for  bread;  and  if  the  fraofile 
girl,  or  the  hapless  boy  should  fall  by  the  way, 
there  was  no  friendly  hand  to  aid.  It  had  become 
the  common  lot  of  children  to  fall  into  habits  of 
wickedness  and  crime.  It  was  under  the  pressure 
of  circumstances  of  this  nature  that  their  fathers 
dared  to  strike  where  they  supposed  the  evil  to 
be  primarily  rooted. 

The  governing  class  was  entrusted  with  the 
power  to  save,  and  the  preceding  chapters  have 
shown  whether  it  was  earnestly  sought  to  execute 
that  holy  trust.  But,  not  so.  The  wise  ones  of 
their  generation  adjudged  that  it  were  better  for 
the  peasantry  to  perish  than  that  certain  forms 
peculiar  to  international  comity  should  be  infringed; 
better  that  the  oroverned  class  should  be  forced  into 
a  life  of  idleness,  want,  debauchery  and  crime,  than 
that  the  o-overnino-  class  should  have  been  thouofht 
to  have  been  guilty  of  a  breach  of  political  eti- 
quette, in  dealing  with  a  potentate  beyond  the 
Himalayas. 

So  puffed  up  with  pomp  and  personal  dignity 
had  this  honorable  half  of  the  Republic  become, 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  II3 

that  its  high  priests,  whom,  in  the  intensity  of  its 
vanity  and  unconscious  imitativeness,  it  desio-nated 
statesmen,  decreed,  by  every  administrative  act, 
that  the  welfare  of  the  nation  and  the  happiness 
of  her  people  were  matters  of  secondary  consid- 
eration;   and  that   the  great  purposes  for  which 
governments  were  organized  and  maintained,  were 
the  institution  of  what  might  be  termed  the  Diplo- 
matic Strut,  at  home,  and  the  International  Strut, 
abroad.     Without  the  presence  of  the  Diplomatic 
Strut,  throughout  the  various  departments,  admin- 
istrative disintegration  were   inevitable   at  home  ; 
while  the  plainest  understanding  must  acknowl- 
edge  that   without    the    International    Strut,   the 
nations  of  the  earth  would  at  once  lay  aside  such 
trifling  matters  as  internal  improvements,  the  cul- 
tivation of  science  and  art,  and  the  encouragement 
of  commerce,  and  engage  in  the  noble  occupation 
of  cutting  one  another's  throats. 

Such  were  the  doctrines  maintained  and  tne 
practice  established  by  the  conduct  of  the  Ameri- 
can statesmen,  while  the  governed  classes  were 
driven  by  want  to  those  means  of  obtaining  bread 
which  the  laws  declared  to  be  crimes ;  and  how- 
ever ridiculous  the  illustration,  it  is  not,  in  point 
of  virtual  fact,  overdrawn. 

The  greatest  political  writers,  whose  precepts 
have  adorned  the  governing  principles  of  the  most 
enlightened  nations,  are  unanimous  that  legislation 
can  never  be  stationary,  but  must  forever  shift  and 


114  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

change  to  adapt  itself  to  the  varying-  necessities 
of  each  successive  age.  Except  within  the  skulls 
of  modern  American  statesmen  (very  modern)  it 
was  never  pretended  that  a  different  rule  must  be 
applied  to  that  which  may  properly  be  regarded  as 
international  legislation ;  and  hence,  that  treaty 
obligations  between  different  states  were  binding 
upon  the  treaty  powers  at  the  will  of  either  party, 
whatever  the  result,  or  in  whatever  new  phases 
the  progress  or  the  vicissitudes  of  the  age  might 
develop. 

It  was  because  the  governed  classes  arose 
against  the  affirmative  of  this  peculiar  dogma  of 
diplomatic  comity,  which  had  already  divested  the 
great  body  of  its  members  of  all  that  makes  life 
worthy  of  endurance,  and  even  now  threatened  to 
extinguish  life  itself  by  a  process  of  mental  and 
physical  torture,  that  it  incurred  the  hostility  of 
the  dogmatist  class ;  the  fervor  of  whose  animad- 
version would  not  be  appeased  by  the  knowledge 
that  those  who  drew  the  sword  had  perished,  but 
sought  further  satiety  by  associating  the  memory 
of  the  unfortunate  dead  with  acts  of  the  blackest 
treason  and  infamy. 

The  fate  of  the  few  survivors  of  the  insurrection 
was  speedily  determined.  The  State  lacked  the 
hardihood  to  punish  them,  or  even  to  refuse  to 
admit  them  to  very  moderate  bail.  They  were 
accordingly  held  to  await  the  usual  grand  jury 
investigation   in  such  cases ;  but,  by  pre-arrange- 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  I  1 5 

ment  with  their  bondsmen  and  others,  they  for- 
feited their  bail,  and  fled  the  State,  never  to 
return. 

The  necessities  of  existence  soon  afterwards 
caused  the  dispersion  of  all,  or  nearly  all,  the 
white  laborers,  other  than  such  as  happened  to  be 
freeholders,  in  California.  To  maintain  their  foot- 
hold, they  had  tried  competition  ;  then  supplica- 
tion, by  petition;  then  legislation;  then  revolution; 
and  had  failed  at  each  effort.  They  had  no  longer 
the  power,  nor  the  organization,  to  resist.  Even 
existence  had  become  a  strufjcjle,  that  left  no  time 
for  other  aims  or  purposes.  Circumstances  had 
made  them  vagabonds ;  for  Chinese  laborers  and 
artisans  filled  all  the  avenues  of  labor.  Then,  too, 
the  people  were  permanently  divided.  Class  dis- 
tinctions, regulated  by  wealth,  had  become  the 
great  social  institutions.  Society  had  become  au- 
tocratic. The  upper  and  middle  classes  were  still 
largely  white,  but  not  exclusively  so ;  and  the 
lower  class  was  almost  exclusively  Mongolian. 
The  corporate  powers  of  the  State,  and  of  each 
political  subdivision,  were  still  wielded  by  the 
white  elem.ent ;  but  the  enfranchisement  of  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  Chinese,  in  Califor- 
nia, alone,  was  destined  to  make  a  most  emphatic 
impression  upon  the  governmental  system. 

Immediately  following  the  suppression  of  the 
San  Francisco  insurrection,  and  the  dispersion  of 
the  white   laborers,  the   tone  of  business   rapidly 


I  1 6  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

revived.  Every  branch  of  industry  was  pushed 
forward  with  rare  vi^or.  An  extensive  and  im- 
mensely  lucrative  trade  sprang  up  with  the  East ; 
and  not  only  San  Francisco,  but  most  of  the  avail- 
able ports  of  the  Pacific,  were  carrying  on  an 
active  commerce  with  China.  The  commerce  of 
San  Francisco  was  rapidly  increased,  two  and 
three-fold ;  and  at  length  reached  a  point  of  com- 
mercial supremacy  never  surpassed  by  any  empo- 
rium of  the  continent. 

Throughout  all  this  era  of  prosperity,  a  steady- 
tide  of  immigration  from  China  provoked  no 
remark,  nor  criticism.  The  merchant  princes  and 
the  carriers  discovered  only  that  their  business 
and  their  profits  had  more  than  doubled,  but  did 
not  stop  to  inquire  whether  the  acquisition  were  a 
wholesome  growth,  or  a  spasmodic  effort  of  an 
administrative  system,  whose  motive  power  had 
broken  from  its  myriad  attachments,  and  was  ex- 
hausting itself  in  a  single  direction. 

Another  significant  circumstance  that,  in  due 
time,  followed  the  expulsion  of  the  white  laborers 
from  the  Pacific  Coast,  was  the  unanimity  with 
which  the  Coolies  availed  themselves  of  the  natu- 
ralization laws  of  the  United  States.  Those  not 
already  qualified  for  citizenship  by  age  and  resi- 
dence, under  the  statute,  lost  no  time  in  making 
the  preliminary  declaration.  Toward  the  close  of 
the  second  decade,  more  than  two  hundred  thou- 
sand Coolies  were   naturalized,  which,  of  course, 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  I  1 7 

threw  the  poHtical  power  of  the  State  into  their 
hands,  whenever  they  should  feel  disposed  to  take 
upon  themselves  the  responsibility  of  government. 

Before  the  expulsion,  the  voting  population  of 
the  State  numbered  some  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty thousand,  of  which  one-fourth  was  lost  during 
the  few  years  that  followed  the  insurrection. 

Now  that  the  Chinese  became  fully  aware  of 
their  power,  they  showed  no  disposition  to  shrink 
from  the  responsibility  of  conducting  the  affairs  of 
the  State;  and  the  election  just  decided  showed 
how  incalculable  the  price  that  had  been  paid  for 
a  few  years  of  unexampled  prosperity.  Only  suf- 
ficient white  men  were  elected  to  office  to  famil- 
iarize the  new  incumbents  with  the  routine  of  busi- 
ness; and,  as  another  result,  the  portrait  of  a 
Mandarin  was  suspended  in  the  gallery  of  the 
Capitol  set  apart  to  the  Governors  of  the  State. 

The  control  of  political  power  in  California,  thus 
necessarily  opened  to  the  Mongolian  the  doors  of 
the  National  Capitol;  and  besides  two  Mongolian 
Congressmen  elected  by  the  people,  as  now  con- 
stituted, the  Legislature  proceeded  to  elect  a  suc- 
cessor to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  To 
this  high  position  was  chosen  one  of  the  chiefs  of 
the  old  sub-goverment;  a  man  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  the  Enorlish  lansfuaofe  and  literature 
and  with  the  political  history  of  the  country. 

Following  the  political  subversion  in  California, 
came  the  tidings,  first  from  Nevada,  and  then  frora 


1  1  8  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

Oreofon,  that  the  Chinese  had  carried  those  States: 
and  the  report  did  not  long  lack  confirmation, — 
with  this  exception,  that  while  the  Coolies  made 
it  manifest  that  they  had  the  power,  in  point  of 
numbers,  to  make  their  victory  as  complete  as 
they  had  done  in  California,  they  were  restrained 
by  considerations  of  expediency.  They  saw  that 
they  had  the  power,  and  were  willing  to  abide 
their  time;  so  that,  instead  of  taking  the  govern- 
ment of  those  States  exclusively  into  their  hands 
they  divided  it  pretty  evenly  between  themselves 
and  those  with  whom  they  were  satisfied  to  dally, 
yet  a  while.  In  both  States,  however,  they  had 
been  careful  to  appropriate  to  themselves  the  con- 
trol of  the  Legislatures,  and  to  elect  their  repre- 
sentatives to  Congress.  They  had  come  to  under- 
stand that  any  future  issues  to  arise  between  them- 
selves and  the  Caucasian  race,  in  America,  must 
be  determined  by  the  temper  and  the  constitution 
of  Congress;  and  hence  the  largest  possible  Con- 
gressional representation  was  a  matter  of  the 
utmost  importance.  They  had  already  secured 
more  than  half  the  aggregate  representation  of 
those  States;  and  the  control  of  the  entire  repre- 
sentation of  these  was  only  a  question  of  a  brief 
time.  They  were,  even  now,  in  a  position  to 
maintain  their  ascendency,  not  only  in  California, 
but  race  ascendency,  on  the  Pacific  Slope,  should 
that  question  arise. 

If  there  was  one   popular  characteristic  of  the 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC,  I  I9 

Coolie  which,  at  this  period,  became  more  promi- 
nent than  the  rest,  it  was  his  undeviating  loyalty. 
The  decrees  of  the  courts  of  justice  (albeit,  the 
race  complexion  of  those  tribunals  had  not  changed) 
were  observed  as  reverentially  as  the  traditional 
precepts  of  Confucius;  and  the  tribunals  of  the 
sub-government  which  had  administered  the  affairs 
of  the  people  while  they  were  alien  to  the  land, 
had  disappeared. 

The  time  had  not  yet  come  for  them  to  throw 
off  the  mask  of  dissimulation.     Althouo-h  the  ab- 

o 

solute  masters  of  the  Pacific  Slope,  they  had  not, 
as  yet,  established  political  power  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains;  and  a  single  act  of  the  Federal 
government,  even  yet,  might  suffice  to  render 
abortive  their  grand  scheme  of  conquest.  But  so 
long  as  loyalty  to  the  government  and  to  each 
and  every  of  its  institutions  could  guarantee  non- 
intervention in  this  direction,  there  was  no  ground 
for  apprehension;  for  if  industry,  economy,  enter- 
prise and  a  willing  obedience  to  every  govern- 
mental requirement,  will  constitute  the  attributes 
of  meritorious  citizenship,  the  Chinese  inhabitants 
of  the  United  States  were  entitled  to  claim  this 
merit,  in  the  superlative  degree. 

And,  indeed,  on  other  grounds,  their  apprehen- 
sion of  wronorful  discrimination  against  them,  in 
the  direction  of  race  suppression,  might  be  speedily 
removed.  The  badge  of  citizenship  had  placed 
them  upon   terms  of  equality  with  the  natives  of 


I20  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

the  most  favored  nations  who  had  claimed  com- 
mon allegiance ;  and  only  the  grossest  injustice 
and  disregard  for  natural  as  well  as  constitutional 
rights  and  privileges,  could  dare  to  infringe  their 
civic  prerogative. 

Thus  far,  as  citizens,  their  march  to  power  was 
unmarked  by  scramble  or  local  intrigue.  In  no 
instance  did  they  ever  attempt  to  grasp  the  gov- 
ernment of  even  the  smallest  municipality,  before 
their  numbers  were  ample  to  secure  the  end 
sought,  without  the  aid  of  intrigue  or  political 
maneuvering.  But  as  soon  as  their  numbers  had 
become  ample  to  insure,  beforehand,  their  political 
ascendency,  they  invariably  voted  themselves  into 
office,  in  sufficient  force  to  take  control ;  and  in 
every  such  instance,  they  conducted  the  affairs  of 
the  city,  county,  or  State,  with  great  economy  and 
fidelity.  In  fact,  all  the  intrigue  and  the  corrupt- 
ing tendency  of  the  alien,  by  which  legislation,  and 
even  judicial  decrees,  were  colored,  had  given 
place  to  a  citizenship  as  pure  in  practice  as  ever 
shed  lustre  and  prosperity  upon  the  government 
of  any  state. 

During  the  later  years,  the  immigration  was  no 
longer  confined  to  the  Pacific  ports  of  the  United 
States.  Direct  immigration  to  the  Atlantic  cities, 
by  way  of  the  Suez  Canal  and  Mediterranean,  had 
largely  contributed  to  swell  the  Mongolian  popu- 
lation of  the  Southern  and  New  Eno-land  States, 
which,  at  present,  offered  most  advantages  to  the 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  121 

immigrant.  Under  the  patient  industry  of  the 
Coolie,  the  cotton  plantations  of  the  Southern 
States  were  made  to  yield  as  never  before ;  the 
revenue  derived  from  this  branch  of  industry  alone 
having  more  than  quadrupled  under  the  influence 
of  Coolie  labor,  extending  over  a  period  of  some 
ten  years. 

Nor  did  the  Mongolians  suffer  themselves  to 
be  manipulated  by  the  politicians  of  the  period. 
Numerous  were  the  attempts  made  by  political 
schemers  to  kindle  in  the  mind  of  the  Coolie  the 
spirit  of  partisan  strife  and  bitterness,  such  as  had 
characterized  their  intercourse  with  the  ing-enuous 
African,  in  years  agone.  But  every  such  effort 
wholly  failed.  In  fact,  the  Coolie  proved,  in 
this  respect,  intractable ;  while  it  never  occurred 
to  the  self-sufficient  politician  that  had  undertaken 
the  manipulation  of  the  Asiatic,  that  his  apparent 
political  obliquity  was  simply  the  result  of  a  depth 
and  acuteness  of  perception  far  superior  to  his 
own. 

While  they  were  }-et  too  weak  in  numbers  to 
attempt  the  dictation  of  the  affairs  of  a  State,  or 
any  of  its  municipal  subdivisions,  they  voted  as 
if  by  rule,  with  both  parties,  about  evenly,  so  that 
their  vote  seldom  determined  any  election,  and 
played  but  an  indifferent  part  in  party  politics. 
They  never  neglected,  however,  to  avail  them- 
selves  of  their  right   of  suffrage,   although  they, 


122  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

evidently,  were  but  slightly  interested  in  the 
result. 

Their  presence  in  the  Eastern  States,  during 
those  years,  was  by  no  means  unattended  by 
social  disturbances  of  a  most  alarming  character, 
in  which  they  participated,  on  the  defensive ;  but 
the  particulars  of  these,  as  well  as  their  influence 
upon  the  whole  movement,  in  both  hemispheres, 
will  properly  belong  to  a  subsequent  chapter. 

Before  concluding  the  present  chapter,  may  prop- 
erly be  noticed  one  peculiarity  of  the  immigration, 
of  which  no  plausible  explanation  was  ever  made 
or  offered.  Indeed,  it  was  quite  sufficient  to  throw 
a  certain  degree  of  doubt  upon  the  good  faith  of 
the  whole  vast  plan  of  colonization,  and  such 
would  probably  have  been  the  result,  from  which 
grave  consequences  might  have  followed,  were  it 
not  for  the  exemplary  conduct  of  the  Asiatic  citi- 
zens, in  every  sphere  of  industrial  life.  The  feature 
to  which  reference  is  made  is  the  fact  that  less  than 
five  per  centum  of  the  Chinese  immigrants  to  our 
shores  were  women.  In  view  of  this  dispropor- 
tion, the  domestic  relation,  as  understood  in  Euro- 
pean life,  was  clearly  impossible. 

The  immigrants,  consisting  chiefly  of  men,  in 
the  vigor  of  life,  lived  in  communities,  and  estab- 
lished a  species  of  family  circle  without  the  pres- 
ence of  their  women.  This  fact,  if  noticed  at  all, 
at  that  time,  was  simply  regarded  as  a  national 
eccentricity,  and  elicited  no  further  study  or  com- 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  1 23 

ment.  Time,  however,  was  destined  to  explain  its 
great  significance,  and  to  establish,  as  well,  that 
no  peculiar  feature  of  this  movement  was  the  work 
of  chance ;  that  every  apparent  eccentricity  was 
but  the  surface  indication  of  a  design  too  magnifi- 
cent of  conception  to  be  absolutely  concealed, 
however  it  might  be  disguised ;  and  that  each  and 
all  contributed  to  the  formation  of  a  terrible  but 
harmonious  agfprreofation. 

00       o 


CHAPTER   VII. 

Labor  on  the  Rampage The  Chinese  Control  the  Railroads 

A  Social  Suggestion The  Sum  of  Partisan  Virtue 

Southern  Estimate  of  the  Coolie Rise  of  Classes The 

Negro  Exodus The  Coolie  Settles  in  New  England  and 

Breeds  Distress The  Morals  of  New  England  Suffer 

Her    Peace   is   Disturbed She    Seeks    to    Repudiate    the 

Coolie  and  Fails Her  Moral  Reflections Her  Politi- 
cal Reflections Beneath  the  Surface. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  a  previous  chap- 
ter, the  ratification  of  the  Burlingame  Treaty  was 
fixed  as  an  epoch  from  which  to  date  the  progress 
of  events  detailed  in  this  history.  Adhering  to 
this  plan  of  computation,  less  than  three  decades 
had  elapsed,  and  the  Mongolian  population  of  the 
United  States  numbered  more  than  four  million 
souls. 

On  the  Pacific  Coast  the  plan  of  encroachment, 
which  was  begun  by  an  irresistible  competition, 
which  drove  out  the  white  laborers,  was  gradually 
extended  to  the  commercial  classes,  also.  The 
commerce  with  Asia  had  become  the  great  source 
of  wealth  to  San  Francisco,  and  which  did  more 
than  all  other  causes  combined,  to  develop  the 
latent  resources  of  the  Pacific  Coast  States,  and 
to  encourage  their  manufacturing  industries,  soon 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  1 25 

fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Chinese  merchants  and 
carriers  resident  at  San  Francisco.  These,  by 
privately  extending  special  privileges  to  their 
countrymen,  who,  in  common  with  others,  were 
dependent  upon  this  commerce  for  local  traffic, 
soon  enabled  them  to  take  control  of  the  local 
commercial  patronage  of  the  State  and  of  all  the 
territory  tributary  to  San  Francisco,  as  well.  Be- 
sides this,  the  white  consumers  had  gradually 
diminished,  so  that  it  was,  in  one  sense,  a  Mon- 
golian community,  whose  members  were  trans- 
acting business  among  themselves. 

The  aim  of  the  Mono-olian  to  establish  this 
order  of  things  was  for  several  years  thwarted  by 
the  great  wealth  and  influence  of  the  powerful 
railroad  corporations  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  which, 
although  comprising  several  companies  or  corpo- 
rations, were  essentially  the  same;  being  com- 
posed of  the  same  individuals  operating  different 
routes  under  different  charters. 

But  a  couple  of  decades  in  the  enjoyment  of 
civil  liberty  had  wonderfully  developed  the  mental 
capabilities  of  the  Mongolian.  Fertility  of  re- 
source had  become  one  of  the  most  prominent 
characteristics  of  that  people;  and  to  this  was 
added  that  boldness  of  enterprise,  indomitable 
perseverance  and  inflexible  determination  which 
makes  the  accomplishment  of  every  human  en- 
deavor tributary  only  to  the  lapse  of  time. 

To   obtain   the   possession   of  these   immense 


126  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

franchises  and  property  had  long  been  a  cherished 
dream  of  the  Mongolian  capitalists ;  and  a  plan 
was  at  length  devised  by  which  those  corporations 
were  compelled  to  accept  terms.  The  Constitu- 
tion of  the  State  of  California,  the  adoption  of 
which,  by  the  people,  has  already  been  noticed, 
aimed,  among  other  things,  to  curb  the  powers  of 
the  railroad  corporations.  To  carry  out  this  object 
it  provided  for  the  election  of  a  Board  of  Rail- 
road Commissioners,  whose  special  duty  it  was 
made,  to  regulate  the  rates  of  freights  and  fares 
over  the  several  lines  of  road.  As  the  Chinese 
had  long  had  the  control  of  the  political  power  of 
the  State,  and  the  railroad  companies  obstinately 
refused  to  listen  to  any  overtures  by  which  their 
property  should  be  transferred,  the  former,  now, 
for  the  first  time,  availed  themselves  of  their  po- 
litical advantages  to  accomplish  a  private  end. 
They  had  it  in  their  power  to  fix  the  rates  of 
freights  and  fares  at  such  a  standard  as  Commis- 
sioners elected  by  themselves  might  report  to  the 
companies.  This  they  did,  and  reported  a  sched- 
ule of  rates  so  low  that  the  roads  were,  first, 
reduced  to  very  moderate  profits,  and,  in  due 
course  of  time,  to  no  profits  at  all. 

The  railroad  companies  now  sought  relief  in 
the  courts;  but  the  most  critical  construction  of 
the  laws  failed  to  establish  any  rights  of  redress 
in  the  premises.  They  next  refused  to  carry 
freight  or  passesgers  at  the  schedule  rates,  whe.e- 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  12/ 

upon  they  were  brought  into  court,  at  the  suit  of 
the  Board  of  Commissioners,  and  sustained  heavy 
damages.  For  some  time  longer  they  continued 
to  operate  their  great  system  of  roads  at  rates 
that  sufficed  for  running  expenses,  with  hardly  a 
margin  of  profit;  until,  finally,  becoming  satisfied 
that  there  was  no  longer  a  principle  upon  which 
to  support  further  resistance,  they  accepted  the 
proposition  to  receive,  in  coin,  the  value  of  their 
immense  property  and  franchise. 

The  system  of  internal  communication  which 
thus  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Mongolian  citizens 
of  San  Francisco,  by  this  one  act,  comprised  the 
entire  railroad  system  of  California,  Nevada,  Ore- 
gon, and  Arizona.  To  their  political  was  thus 
added  their  commercial  supremacy,  on  the  Pacific 
Coast;  and  as  these  invariably  carry  with  them 
the  recognition  of  the  social  preferment  of  the 
class  to  which  they  belong,  the  Chinese  may  be 
said  to  have,  at  that  period,  become  supreme 
throughout  these  several  States.  Their  wealthy 
and  influential  men  had  already  begun  to  inter- 
marry with  the  daughters  of  America, — the  latter, 
in  forming  these  alliances,  having  simply  obeyed  a 
mandate  of  human  nature  as  old  as  humanity :  that 
the  women  of  the  conquered  race  will  not  long 
object  to  an  alliance  with  the  conquerors. 

Throughout  the  series  of  years  that  had  elapsed 
since  the  Presidential  veto  of  a  farcical  measure  to 
limit   Chinese  immigration,   already  detailed,   the 


128        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

Conofress  of  the  United  States  looked  on  rather 
with  approbation  than  with  indifference  at  the  tide 
of  immigration  from  China ;  but  taking  no  account 
of  the  miseries  and  doubts  of  the  people,  who  hap- 
pened to  be  the  immediate  sufferers,  at  home. 
The  partisan  spirit  which  had  settled  down  upon 
the  popular  understanding,  at  the  close  of  the 
rebellion  of  1 864,  never,  for  a  moment,  lifted  its 
baleful  influence  from  the  affairs  of  the  nation  ;  on 
the  contrary,  it  colored  every  public  action,  and 
breathed,  forever,  into  the  public  affairs  of  the 
country,  the  discord  of  evil  destiny. 

Two  great  parties,  each  doubting  the  motives 
of  the  other ;  doubting  its  honesty,  its  ability,  its 
integrity,  —  in  fact,  believing  it  thoroughly  and 
absolutely  depraved,  and  struggling  only  for  spoil, 
in  its  efforts  to  govern,  each  jealous  of  every 
success,  suspicious  of  every  advantage  obtained 
by  the  other, — were  the  instruments  by  which  the 
revenues  of  a  great  nation  and  the  interests  of  a 
great  people  were  administered.  Always  pro- 
voking or  repelling  reprisals,  slandering,  falsifying, 
corrupting,  and  debauching;  these  powerful  divi- 
sions, with  changing  successes,  from  time  to  time, 
had  no  leisure  to  devote  to  such  matters  as  might 
determine  the  welfare  of  the  whole  people,  and 
lacked  the  disposition  to  combine  for  the  common 
good. 

That  which  the  people  saw,  their  leaders  either 
could  not,  or  would  not  see.   The  people  saw  that 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  1 29 

the  system  was  leading-  to  ruin,  and  the  loss  of 
political  liberty,  either  in  the  flash  of  revolution 
or  by  the  process  of  Asiatic  colonization ;  but 
their  leaders  saw  only  that  the  ascendency  of  their 
several  parties,  on  such  terms  as  to  secure  a  per- 
manent lease  of  power,  was  all  that  was  needed 
to  establish  the  government  upon  an  immovable 
basis,  and  guarantee  the  prosperity  of  the  citizen. 
And  the  leaders  triumphed  over  the  people,  as 
leaders  have  generally  done,  and  their  authority 
was  as  supreme  as  were  the  dictates  of  the  Chief 
Inquisitor  of  Spain,  or  of  the  preacher  of  the 
Scotch  kirk,  in  the  palmy  days  of  sectarian  bigotry 
and  superstition. 

Adam  Smith,  the  great  political  economist,  laid 
down  the  rule  that  labor,  and  not  land,  is  the 
sottrce  from  which  wealth  is  derived ;  and  that 
the  wealth  of  a  nation  will,  therefore,  be  propor- 
tioned to  the  number  of  its  inhabitants  who  work. 
The  truth  of  this  theory  is  practically  vindicated 
by  the  study  of  the  United  States  at  this  period. 
Notwithstanding  the  conflicting  notions  of  gov- 
ernmental method  which  prevailed,  and  which 
kept  the  plan  of  government  in  a  condition  of 
constant  vacillation,  the  unsettled  state  of  public 
opinion,  and  the  occasional  conflicts  of  a  more 
practical  nature  which  were  occurring  among  the 
laboring  classes,  nevertheless  there  never  was, 
before,  a  time  at  which  the  country  attained  to  a 
condition   of  national  prosperity  so   emphatic   in 


130  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

itself,  or  so  exalted  by  comparison  with  that  of  the 
states  of  Europe.  The  immense  funded  debt  of 
the  nation  was  almost  extinguished ;  and  the  bal- 
ance of  trade  with  Europe,  now  in  favor  of  the 
United  States,  often  exceeded,  annually,  the  gross 
amount  of  our  former  exports.  This  was  the 
direct  result  of  the  additional  toil  of  more  than 
four  million  Coolie  laborers,  who  were  scattered 
over  the  whole  territory  of  the  United  States,  from 
ocean  to  ocean. 

These  patient  toilers  continued  to  wring  from 
all  the  kinofdoms  of  Nature  whatsoever  of  value 
she  held  concealed.  The  production  of  gold, 
silver,  copper  and  iron,  and  the  manufactures  in 
these  metals  for  export  to  every  quarter  of  the 
globe,  were  conducted  with  astonishing  energy  by 
the  Mongolian  citizens.  The  drudgery  connected 
with  the  production  of  the  raw  material  was  almost 
exclusively  in  their  hands ;  but  the  more  delicate 
work  of  manufacture  fell  to  the  lot  of  their  Cau- 
casian brethren.  In  the  production  of  cotton, 
rice  and  sugar,  and  other  staples  peculiar  to  the 
South,  they  had  likewise  monopolized  the  sphere 
of  drudgery ;  but  some  of  the  representative  men 
of  the  race  were  aiming  to  possess  rich  cotton 
plantations.  They  enjoyed  peculiar  advantages  in 
these  last  named  pursuits.  Compared  with  that 
in  the  Pacific  Coast  States,  the  progress  of  the 
Coolie  throughout  the  whole  territory  known  as 
the   Slave   States,    might  be   said   to   have   been 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  I3I 

without  any  obstacle  worthy  of  the  name.  The 
inhabitants  were  deh'ghted  with  them  as  a  substi- 
tute for  the  negroes.  They  were  neither  idle  nor 
vicious ;  nor  did  they  thwart  the  interested  aims 
of  the  politicians  by  interfering  in  matters  of  gov- 
ernment. In  fact,  had  the  Southern  people  been 
privileged  to  petition  the  Author  of  Nature  for  a 
species  of  human  being,  to  be  made  to  order,  with 
the  assurance  of  having  the  petition  heard  and 
granted,  they  could  not  have  provided  themselves 
with  a  model  more  suitable  to  the  public  taste 
than  they  found  ready-made  and  providentially 
supplied  in  the  person  and  presence  of  the  Coolie. 
He  was  so  eminently  stupid  in  great  things,  and 
so  quick  and  keen  in  small ;  so  devoted  to  toil, 
and  so  averse  to  sentiment ;  so  obedient,  so  cun- 
ning, so  ignorant,  so  willing,  so  unassuming,  and 
so  servile,  that  the  Southern  land-owners  once 
more  imacrined  themselves  the  masters  of  a  race 
of  slaves, — but  this  time  of  willing  slaves, — and  a 
prospect  of  permanence  to  the  institution.  They 
had  not  learned  to  interpret  the  restless,  anxious, 
observing  glances ;  the  interminable  endeavor ; 
the  avarice,  and  the  bland,  significant  courtesy,  so 
common  to  the  whole  Mongolian  race. 

They  might  have  known  that  avarice,  the  most 
prominent  of  all  the  national  characteristics  of  that 
people,  is  the  child  of  ambition,  and  that  the  latter 
is,  to-day,  as  insatiable  as  it  was  when,  only  a 
century    ago,    its    incarnation,    in    the    person   of 


132        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

Bonaparte,  held  it  forth  to  the  astonished  and 
terrified  gaze  of  prostrate  Europe,  or  when,  at 
periods  more  and  still  more  remote,  it  turned  with 
lofty  and  imperious  scorn  from  the  devastation  of 
Rome  or  the  ashes  of  Carthage.  They  might 
have  known  that  a  nation  which  was  free  while 
the  caves  of  unregenerate  Europe  gave  a  wretched 
shelter  to  their  barbarous  ancestors,  had  not  come 
from  the  antipodes  to  do  them  fealty,  and  revive 
an  effete  feudalism ;  they  might  have  known  that 
the  genius  of  Freedom  must  be  the  inspiration  of 
a  people  who  were  the  first  in  the  world  to  be 
free  ;  that  the  genius  of  Independence  must  be  the 
inspiration  of  a  people  who  were  the  first  in  the 
world  to  be  independent,  and  the  most  successful 
in  preserving  their  independence  ;  that  the  genius 
of  Government  and  Civilization  must  be  the  inspi- 
ration of  a  people  whose  government  dates  to  an 
aofe  so  remote  that  its  origin  is  lost  in  the  shadows 
of  antiquity.  They  might  have  known  that  the 
institutions  of  barbarism  and  of  a  barbarous  age 
could  never  be  assimilated  by  a  civilization  so 
crystallized  by  the  influence  of  a  system,  change- 
less through  centuries ;  but  they  were  too  con- 
ceited, and  too  ignorant,  to  indulge  a  contempla- 
tion so  ignoble  as  that  which  should  place  the 
laboring  Coolie  upon  an  eminence  to  which  they 
dare  not,  in  theory,  aspire. 

This  misconception  indulged  in  by  the   people 
of  the  Slave  States,  was  not  confined  to  them  ; 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  I  33 

and  only  differed  in  degree,  but  not  in  kind,  from 
the  opinions  of  the  whole  independent  classes  of 
the  United  States.  The  system  of  Coolie  labor 
was  seen  to  work  well  in  practice  ;  and  as  for  the 
theory,  if  studied  at  all,  it  was  to  prove  how  emi- 
nently qualified  it  was  to  take  care  of  itself.  The 
labor  of  four  millions  of  Coolies,  added  to  the 
regular  white  labor  of  the  country,  developed  all 
her  resources  to  the  fullest.  Some  of  these  that 
seemed  inexhaustible,  as,  for  instance,  the  coal, 
silver  and  iron  deposits,  among  the  minerals,  and 
every  agricultural  pursuit,  availed  to  give  perma- 
nence to  the  population  established  over  vast 
districts  reclaimed  from  the  wilderness. 

No  government  could  reasonably  demand  of 
her  citizens  more  of  enterprise  or  of  industry  than 
was  freely  accorded  here ;  and  from  a  practical 
standpoint  it  would  have  been  political  insanity  to 
have  aimed  a  blow  for  the  suppression  or  dis- 
couragement of  industries  so  worthily  directed. 
But  the  prosperity  of  the  country,  so  far  from 
alleviating  the  suffering  of  the  poor,  rather  tended 
to  its  aggravation,  by  the  erection  of  classes  and 
the  forcing  of  them  to  extreme  distinctions. 

The  experiences  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  of  many 
years  earlier,  were  in  process  of  repetition,  but 
upon  a  larger  scale.  Four  millions  of  people 
could  not  introduce  themselves  into  a  nation  of 
forty  millions,  and  confine  themselves  to  the 
sphere   of  a  single   class,  without  being  sensibly 


134       LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

felt  ;  and  so  it  was.  They  did  not  fall  into  places 
already  vacated  to  receive  them  at  the  date  of 
their  advent  into  the  country,  nor  did  they  develop 
new  industries  to  give  labor  to  the  hands  of  all. 
Throughout  the  Slave  States  the  presence  of  the 
Mongolian  was  the  signal  for  the  departure  of  the 
African  ;  and  of  these  latter,  such  as  were  not 
transferred  to  the  land  of  their  ancestors  by  emi- 
gration societies  and  private  enterprise,  were  scat- 
tered about  among  the  cities  of  the  Union  and 
fast  striding  toward  extinction. 

The  manufacturing  towns  and  cities  of  New 
England  were  the  first  among  the  communities  of 
the  Atlantic  States  to  feel  the  blight  of  this  unap- 
proachable labor  system  ;  and  now  they  amply 
suffered  for  their  sin  in  beincr  the  first  to  raise 
their  voices  for  its  propagation.  Here  the  condi- 
tions of  an  ordinary  livelihood  combined  to  render 
the  attendant  hardships  greater  than  any  hereto- 
fore arising  from  the  same  cause  elsewdiere.  Com- 
pared with  the  Pacific  and  the  Southern  States, 
the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life  were  more 
expensive  and  difficult  of  procurement.  To  this 
was  added  the  further  circumstance  of  a  dense 
population,  which  had  been  accustomed  to  draw 
its  sustenance  from  the  revenues  of  the  ereat 
manufactories  in  its  midst.  As  in  California, 
however,  the  untrammeled  and  frugal  Coolie 
offered  to  work  at  rates  of  wages  far  below  any 
at    which    his    white    co-laborer   could   afford    to 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        1 35 

serve  and  maintain  the  burden  of  his  domestic 
establishment — even  below  the  rate  at  which  he 
could  work  and  maintain  himself.  As  it  was  on 
the  Pacific  Slope,  so,  now,  it  was  rendered  in 
New  Eng-land :  like  causes  produced  similar  effects. 
The  white  laborers  were  driven  out  by  as  many 
Coolies  as  had  acquired  skill  in  the  various  arts  in 
which  they  sought  employment. 

But    the   rigor    of  the    New   England   winters 
brought  a  new  feature  into  the   question.      This 
called  for  many  conveniences  that  are  indispen- 
sable not  only  to  individual  health  and  comfort, 
but,  indeed,  to  existence  itself,  and  which  are  not 
demanded   by  the  physical  causes  that  beset  the 
inhabitants   of  more  favored  latitudes.       Men  in 
these  days  will  not,  as  a  rule,  sit  despondent  and 
effortless  while  those  that  have  grown  up  around 
them,  and  are  dependent  upon  them  for  the  com- 
mon necessaries  of  life,  are  suffering  for  the  least 
as  well  as  for  the  greatest  of  these.      The  pangs  of 
cold  and  hunger  appeal  to  a  law  far  higher  and 
mightier  ;  far  more  universal  and  imperative  than 
any  evolved  from  the  brains  of  men.     Under  their 
mfluence,  the  greatest  coward  by  nature,  among 
beasts  as  well  as  among  men,  becomes  oblivious 
of  fear.     He  must,  therefore,  be  less  than  a  nor- 
mal creation   who  could,  by  his  own   hearth,  con- 
template the  paling  cheek  and  tattered  garments 
of  innocent  childhood,  knowing  the  cause  to  rest 
with  empty  store-rooms   and   empty  wardrobes. 


3 


6  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 


where  erst  were  the  ample  domestic  supplies  of 
better  clays,  and  who  will  yet  shrink  from  any 
endeavor,  short  only  of  the  greatest  of  crimes,  to 
relieve  the  distress  of  home. 

The  citizen  who  finds  himself  reduced  to  this 
strait,  after  he  has  exhausted  every  honest  en- 
deavor, and  who  will  still  shrink  from  the  perpe- 
tration of  any  crime,  short  of  murder,  to  bring  a 
ray  of  light  into  his  home,  although  the  agony  of 
apprehension  may  fall  to  his  own  lot,  may  be  a 
moral  man  in  the  estimation  of  this  Q-ood  world  ; 
but  the  appellation  is  only  the  homage  which 
timid  opulence  pays  to  desperate  poverty,  in  order 
that  the  latter  may  be  flattered  into  suicide  or 
starvation,  rather  than  assert  a  right  which  the 
God  of  Nature  has  proclaimed  should  never  be 
restrained  by  any  conventional  obligation. 

The  radical  one  of  these  two  alternatives  was 
that  which  soon  began  to  sway  the  multitude  of 
idle  laborers  throusfhout  the  afflicted  districts  of 
New  Ensfland.  In  vain  that  the  Courts  thundered 
aofainst  the  offenders  the  indictments  of  its  Grand 
Juries  ;  in  vain  that  police  and  detective  forces 
were  multiplied ;  in  vain  that  the  penalties  of 
public  offences  were  intensified  by  express  legisla- 
lation — all  was  ineffectual  to  crush  the  lawless 
spirit  that  arose. 

The  country  was  teeming  with  wealth,  but  the 
people  were  in  distress  ;  overflowing  with  abund- 
ance and  exporting  stores  to  foreign   lands,  yet 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  1 37 

the  masses  must  starve  ;  was  filled  with  bus)- 
industry,  yet  the  people  had  been  dispossessed  of 
the  means  of  earnino-  bread.  It  was  not  un- 
accountable  that  they  should  have  turned  upon 
society,  since  society  was  first  to  turn  upon  them  ; 
that  they  should  wring  from  the  wealth,  which 
their  labor  had  created  and  maintained,  that  sub- 
sistence which  was  arbitrarily  withheld  from  them. 
Thus  it  was  that  the  same  causes  which  produced 
the  mischievous  "hoodlum"  and  the  useless 
*'  tramp,"  in  the  gentler  climate  and  less  circum- 
scribed sphere  of  industry  of  California,  produced 
in  New  England  not  only  these,  but  the  robber 
and  bandit  as  well.  Desperate  men  lurked  by 
the  secluded  highways,  or  under  the  shadows  of 
night  issued  forth  upon  the  city  streets,  and  pro- 
cured by  lawless  daring,  or  by  stealth,  that  subsis- 
tence which  they  were  no  longer  permitted  to 
earn.  Nor  was  there,  in  the  midst  of  this  public 
disorder,  anything  in  view  that  could  suggest  a 
general  plan  for  the  pacification  of  the  people. 
On  the  contrary,  those  who  exercised  sufficient 
penetration  to  discern  the  identity  of  the  noxious 
agency  at  work,  saw  only  the  prospect  that  the 
difficulties  must  increase  rather  than  diminish, 
with  the  lapse  of  years  ;  and  few  of  those  cared 
to  speculate  upon  the  contingency  that  must  in- 
aug-urate  a  chancre  for  the  better.  The  Coolie 
immigration  was  rather  on  the  increase  than  other- 
wise ;    and  every   arrival   served  to    further   dis- 


138  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

tribute   the  patronage   that  fell   to  the  lot  of  the 
laborer. 

A  few  years  of  lawlessness,  pillage  and  suffer- 
ing, and  New  England  began  to  awaken  to  a 
realization  of  the  fact  that  her  ancient  propogan- 
dism  in  favor  of  Coolieism  was  an  error  of  judgment, 
and  that  she  was  now  called  upon  to  suffer  the 
penalty  of  her  sentimental  advocacy  in  that  direc- 
tion. She  had  sought  and  secured  cheap  labor, 
and,  by  the  same  act,  did  much  to  gratify  the 
obtrusive  missionary  spirit  of  her  people.  By  all 
this  she  succeeded  more  in  concentrating  than  in 
building  up  her  wealth  ;  while  in  the  work  of 
proselytizing  the  Mongolian  her  efforts  wholly 
failed. 

But  her  weatlh,  whether  accumulated  or  simply 
concentrated,  she  was  powerless  to  enjoy.  Instead 
of  abundance,  equality,  contentment,  peace  and 
morality,  which  were  by  no  means  empty  figures 
of  speech  in  New  England,  and  which  she  enjoyed 
before  she  fixed  her  desires  upon  Coolie  labor, 
she  had  now  classes  in  society  distinguished  by 
lavish  wealth  on  one  hand  ;  on  the  other,  inde- 
scribable squalor,  internal  strife,  and  an  insecurity 
of  life  and  property  from  which  the  laws  were 
unable  to  relieve.  The  condition  of  society  was 
every  day  growing  more  intolerable,  while  the 
real  cause  of  the  popular  disorder  was  too  mani- 
fest to  be  further  dissimulated. 

The  people,  at  length,  resorted  to  the  method 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  1 39 

employed  by  California,  while  she  was  yet  free. 
They  flooded  Congress  and  the  Executive  with 
petitions  praying  for  the  intervention  of  the  gov- 
ernment to  relieve  from  the  unendurable  burden 
of  Coolieism.  But  the  time  was  past  when  Con- 
gress would  listen  to  interested  sectional  appeals, 
which  came  unsupported  by  other  inducements 
than  simple  justice.  The  problem  of  partisan 
supremacy  had  not  yet  reached  a  solution,  and 
questions  of  a  novel  character  could  be  viewed 
only  in  their  bearings  upon  this  greater  question ; 
and  it  happened,  just  now,  that  any  measure 
touching  the  suppression  of  any  privilege  hereto- 
fore accorded  to  the  Mongolian,  was,  at  this 
period,  particularly  distasteful  and  inappropriate, 
and  for  this  reason: 

The  hostile  political  parties  were  so  nearly 
balanced,  that,  should  the  Pacific  Coast  members, 
who  were  all  Mongolians,  throw  their  united  sup- 
port upon  one  side,  that  side  would,  thereby, 
become  supreme.  In  other  words,  the  antagonism 
of  the  political  parties  was  too  rancorous  for  com- 
promise ;  and  these  being  nearly  equal,  the  Mon- 
golians held  the  balance  of  power. 

There  was,  besides,  another  circumstance  which 
had  not  escaped  the  notice  of  certain  shrewd 
members,  viz.:  that  it  was  a  question  of  only  a 
few  years  when  one  or  more  of  the  Southern 
States  would  send  Mongolian  representatives  to 
Washington.     There   was   not    the    slifjhtest  cir- 


140  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

cumstance  in  the  movements  of  the  Asiatics  to 
indicate  such  a  probability,  but  the  vote  necessary 
to  accomplish  this  purpose  would  soon  be  attained, 
and  then  the  matter  would  be  decided  without 
noise,  and  when  least  expected.  Hence,  that 
party  which  would  prove  most  successful  in  con- 
ciliating the  Mongolian  members  might  rely,  with 
something  more  than  a  baseless  expectancy,  upon 
their  co-ojDeration. 

By  these  and  kindred  considerations.  New  Eng- 
land was  left  to  determine  in  her  own  way,  and 
as  best  she  might,  the  question  that  had  filled  her 
benevolent,  as  well  as  her  penal,  institutions  with 
inmates,  her  streets  with  homeless  paupers,  and 
her  highways  with  armed  banditti. 

Through  all  the  excitement  of  this  period,  its 
hardships,  and  its  persecutions,  the  plodding 
Coolie  worked  and  toiled,  apparently  heedless 
of  the  adversity  of  his  surroundings,  and  deter- 
mined only  upon  doing,  slowly,  but  thoroughly 
and  well,  the  work  in  hand,  of  whatsoever  nature 
that  might  be.  Whenever  assaulted,  he  escaped, 
if  possible,  to  a  place  of  safety ;  but  if  escape  was 
impossible,  in  any  instance,  he  turned  at  bay,  with 
no  other  idea  of  defense  than  to  take  the  life  of 
his  assailant.  But  his  native  frugality  was  more 
than  a  match  for  any  opposition ;  and  no  retro- 
gression ever  marked  his  way,  whether  to  political 
or  social  position,  or  to  the  acquisition  of  material 
supremacy. 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        I41 

It  began,  at  length,  to  dawn  upon  the  New 
England  mind,  associated,  as  it  was,  with  scenes 
of  lawlessness  and  outrage,  that  the  tendency  of 
the  times,  considered  collectively,  unmistakably 
pointed  to  a  subversion  as  unlimited  in  its  social 
and  political  sway  as  it  promised  to  be  in  its  terri- 
torial jurisdiction.  The  afflicted  parts  of  the  great 
body  politic,  which  so  industriously  struggled  to 
slough  off  the  disease,  by  all  manner  of  abnormal 
manifestations  of  the  popular  resentment,  were  not 
the  only  localities  actuated  by  the  animus  of  pro- 
test. Nor  was  the  absence  of  noisy  demonstra- 
tion, outside  the  afflicted  districts  of  New  England, 
an  indication  that  the  affection  was  merely  local. 
On  the  contrary,  these  were  but  the  ulcers  which 
indicated  the  foulness  of  the  constitution  that 
could  so  well  sustain  their  inflammatory  action. 
An  universal  apprehension  was  abroad,  which  was 
felt,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  by  all  whose 
sensatory  faculties  were  not  either  blunted,  par- 
alyzed, or  perverted  by  selfish  advantage,  or  the 
fervor  of  the  reigning  political  antagonism.  These 
were  the  considerations  which  stamped  an  unchal- 
lenged sense  of  security  upon  the  minds  of  the 
wealthy  and  the  ruling  classes  ;  while  the  super- 
structure of  society  was  reeling  under  the  accumu- 
lated burdens  imposed. 

The  political  and  social  rulers  of  the  people 
looked  on,  saw  and  deprecated  the  prevalent  dis- 
tress.   It  was  very  unfortunate,  in  their  estimation, 


142        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

that  men  should  be  so  improvident  as  to  throw 
away  their  time  and  opportunities,  and  allow 
themselves,  and  those  dependent  upon  them,  to 
suffer.  More  unfortunate  still,  that  not  satisfied 
with  the  life  of  idleness  which  they  had  selected, 
they  must  further  descend  to  vice ;  which  not 
only  broods  disgrace  for  themselves  and  their 
families,  but  worse  still,  interferes  with  the  pleas- 
ures which  the  better  class  might,  otherwise,  be  in 
position  to  enjoy.  These  exceedingly  proper  peo- 
ple, moved  by  a  sense  of  the  duty  they  owed  to 
society,  and  partly  by  sympathy  for  the  families 
of  those  criminal  assemblages,  would  use  their 
influence  to  have  the  laws  more  rigidly  enforced, 
that  the  husbands  and  fathers  of  those  wretched 
women  and  children,  —  nay,  even  the  latter,  as 
well,  —  may  be  taught,  by  the  condemnation  of 
society  which  they  would  make  manifest,  the  les- 
sons they  were  too  indolent,  too  stupid,  or  too 
vicious  to  gather  from  its  toleration. 

The  politician,  in  the  enjoyment  of  official  posi- 
tion, and  intoxicated  by  the  homage  as  well  as  the 
emoluments  of  his  office,  could  only  discover  that 
the  American  people  were  proving  to  the  world 
that  they  were  unable  to  stand  a  high  condition 
of  national  prosperity.  He  pointed,  with  empha- 
sis, at  the  condition  of  New  England,  teeming 
with  wealth,  as  evidenced  by  her  powerful  corpo- 
rations, her  manufactures,  and  the  exports  of  her 
great   commercial  cities,  and   yet  a  prey  to   the 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  1 43 

lawless  passions  of  a  generation  of  vagabonds,  too 
proud  to  labor  and  too  vicious  to  starve.  He  was 
convinced,  in  his  own  mind,  that  unless  the  Mon- 
golian laborers  were  increased,  in  sufficient  force 
to  actually  sustain  these  vicious  classes  in  a  condi- 
tion of  absolute  idleness,  these  latter  would  have 
to  be  suppressed  by  the  power  of  the  State,  at 
large. 

These  were  the  opinions  of  the  only  classes 
which  had  it  in  their  power  to  avert  the  disaster 
which  subsequently  befell.  The  causes  at  work 
they  neither  studied  nor  understood,  while  the 
tenure  by  which  they  held  their  offices,  their 
emoluments,  and  their  wealth,  were  rooted  in  a 
slumbering  volcano. 

It  needed  only  the  electric  spark  of  circumstance 
to  precipitate  the  practical  work  of  reform.  The 
elements  were  already  prepared  and  placed  in 
contiguity;  but  the  potentiality  of  combination  was 
wanting  still.  "Reform"  was  the  term  which  the 
people  chose  to  adopt,  by  which  to  designate  the 
principle  that  had  been  lost,  and  which  it  was  their 
province,  at  the  proper  time,  to  restore.  In  its 
very  indefiniteness  it  was  a  term  eminently  proper 
to  express  the  thing  desired,  for  the  most  acute 
intellect,  contemporaneously  cast  into  the  midst 
of  a  social  and  political  system  so  bewildering, 
would  stumble  in  the  effort  to  analyze  its  constitu- 
ent abuses. 

Reform,  however,  was  sufficiently  comprehen- 


144  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

sive  to  include  within  its  import  whatever  contin- 
gent exigencies  its  case  might  demand, — whether 
its  establishment  might  rest  with  the  humble  effort 
of  the  ballot,  or  whether  its  empire  might  demand 
its  restoration  amidst  the  crash  and  devastation 
of  civil  war. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Chinese  Empire Birth  of  a  New  Civilization Rise  of 

THE  Military  Spirit The  National  Armament Commer- 
cial Supremacy   in  Asia The  Arts  and   Sciences She 

Aims   at  the  Dominion   of  the  High   Seas England  and 

Hong  Kong Conquest  of  Farther  India China  Becomes 

THE  Dictator  of  Asia She  Clings  to  Her  Traditions 

Speculations  in  the  Realm  of  Conquest Preparations  for 

THE    Struggle Mandarins    in    American    Politics The 

Discovery. 

The  Chinese  Empire,  at  the  close  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century,  had  assumed  a  national  splendor 
which  placed  her  upon  an  eminence  far  above  the 
sisterhood  of  nations,  in  point  of  wealth  and 
enterprise.  Her  immense  population  of  four 
hundred  and  seventy-five  millions  of  souls,  en- 
joyed tranquility,  prosperity  and  good  govern- 
ment throughout  her  vast  dominions,  covering 
more  than  two  and  a  half  millions  of  square  miles 
of  territory.  Half  a  century  of  free  intercommun- 
ication with  Europe  and  America,  had  effectuall}^ 
transformed  the  mediaeval  impracticability  of  her 
institutions.  Soon  after  the  middle  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century,  it  was,  that  she  awoke  from  her 
voluntary  slumber  of  centuries,  to  discover  that 
she  had  been  outstripped  in  the   discoveries  and 


146        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

applications  in  science  and  art;  and  with  this  con- 
sciousness came,  also,  the  determination  to  shake 
the  slumber  from  her  faculties,  and  lead,  once 
aofain,  the  civilization  of  the  world. 

She  entered  upon  this  course  by  despatching 
her  willing  subjects  to  Europe  and  America  to 
learn  the  languages  of  the  nations  there,  and  to 
inform  themselves  of  the  means  by  which  those 
peoples  had  achieved  an  universal  command  over 
the  elements  of  Nature,  and  learned  to  unlock 
the  mysteries  of  her  wonderful  laws. 

It  needed  only  the  combination  of  the  great 
mechanical  contrivances  of  Europe  and  America, 
with  her  own  existing  internal  improvements,  to 
give  her  an  impetus  toward  a  matchless  prosperity 
in  the  domain  of  aofriculture.  This  combination 
she  soon  effected,  and  in  a  manner  eminently 
characteristic.  The  vast  prospective  consumption 
of  labor-saving  machines,  which  promised  to  fol- 
low upon  their  introduction,  created  among  cer- 
tain of  her  prominent  commercial  communities  the 
ambitious  desire  to  establish  manufactories  at 
home.  Accordingly,  there  sprang  up,  throughout 
the  Empire,  great  manufactories  of  such  imple- 
ments as  were  heretofore  exclusively  obtained 
from  abroad.  These  works  were  inaugurated 
under  the  superintendence  of  foreigners — princi- 
pally Englishmen  and  Americans.  Of  the  raw 
materials  for  manufacture,  the  mines  of  the  Em- 
pire  furnished   abundance.      Railroads    and    tele- 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  147 

graph  "Iflofes  soon  began  to  connect  the  distant 
provinces  of  the  Empire.  Travel  increased  and 
brought  with  it  an  increase  of  commercial  and 
social  intercourse  among  the  inhabitants.  They 
now  began  to  understand,  from  practical  experi- 
ence, that  which  they  had  known  before  only  in 
theory:  the  magnitude  of  their  country,  its  wealth, 
and  its  overshadowing  population. 

The  introduction  of  Western  inventions  had 
not  only  perfected  them  as  an  agricultural  people, 
but  had  also  made  them  a  manufacturing  people. 
Naturally  ingenious,  they  soon,  practically,  under- 
stood, if  they  did  not  quite  master,  the  theory 
upon  which  the  most  complicated  machinery  was 
constructed;  so  that  they  were  gradually  enabled 
to  dispense  with  the  services  of  foreign  workmen. 

While  she  was  thus  marching  forward  upon  her 
career  of  marvellous  prosperity,  many  of  her  citi- 
zens returning,  after  years  of  residence  abroad, 
brought  back  with  them  a  relish  for  military 
achievements,  as  well  as  for  many  of  the  customs 
and  habits  of  life  peculiar  to  our  Western  civili- 
zation. The  occasion  was  opportune  for  the 
introduction  of  new  ideas;  for  just  then  the  na- 
tional spirit  was  in  a  state  of  transition,  swelling 
from  pride  to  enthusiasm,  as  the  people  indulged 
themselves  with  the  contemplation  of  their  na- 
tional greatness.  The  fervor  of  military  fame  is 
readily  kindled  in  a  people  thus  enthused  by  a 
sense   of  their  own  importance;  and   more  espe- 


148  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

cially  is  this  true  when  the  ruhng  powers  of  the 
state  show  themselves  in  sympathy  with  the 
spirit  of  the  people,  at  large.  Their  great  states- 
men looked  on  with  approbation,  and  in  sundry 
ways,  and  without  display,  managed  to  fan  the 
flame  of  popular  enthusiasm.  They  had  not 
builded  in  vain;  and  they  never  lost  sight  of  the 
sacred  traditions  of  their  country  and  of  their 
race,  which  pointed  still  onward  to  universal 
dominion. 

Heretofore,  they  had  men  sufficient  in  numbers 
to  sweep  the  Western  Hemisphere  at  a  single 
stride,  if  men  had  been  all  that  was  needed  to 
effect  conquest.  But  more  was  required.  A 
military  spirit,  military  equipments,  transporta- 
tion— these,  and  much  more,  were  wanting  still. 
But  now,  the  last  and  all  of  them,  if  not  already 
supplied,  were  certainties  of  the  near  future.  Be- 
sides one  great  manufactory  for  the  production  of 
heavy  ordinance,  which  was  made  an  institution 
of  the  Government,  by  the  Imperial  decree,  there 
were,  elsewhere  throughout  the  Empire,  several 
factories  devoted  exclusively  to  the  production  of 
small  arms  of  every  design  now  in  use  in  Europe 
and  America.  Nor  were  the  arms  produced  in 
those  factories  inferior,  either  in  workmanship  or 
in  the  materials  employed,  to  the  best  English  or 
American  arms. 

As  if  determined,  at  the  proper  time,  to  over- 
awe  her  continental   neighbors   by  a  display   of 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  1 49 

her  available  power,  which  she  now  chose  to 
manifest,  she  set  about  the  work  of  creating  a 
standing  army  that  should  excel  in  point  of  num- 
bers any  other  ever  wielded  by  any  one  govern- 
ment, whether  of  ancient  or  modern  times.  The 
standard  of  this  army,  in  the  matter  of  arms  and 
equipments,  was  to  be  equal  to  the  best  appointed 
army  of  Europe. 

This  proposed  exhibition  of  military  power  was, 
no  doubt,  intended  to  serve  a  double  purpose. 
Its  prestige  alone  would  serve  to  protect  the 
integrity  of  her  boundaries  at  home,  while  it 
furnished,  at  the  same  time,  the  requisite  force  to 
carry  out  her  ambitious  scheme  of  foreign  con- 
quest. 

During  the  years  employed  in  the  prosecution 
of  this  great  military  enterprise,  the  outside  world 
remained  unadvised  of  any  movement  of  an  un- 
usual or  important  nature  among  this  remarkable 
people,  beyond  the  bare  fact  that  they  had  begun 
to  develop  manufactures  and  to  extend  their  com- 
merce. The  secrets  of  the  government  were 
jealously  guarded  within  the  precincts  of  the 
sacred  city ;  and  while  citizens  without  might 
look  on  and  speculate  upon  the  probable  direc- 
tion of  the  Imperial  will,  they  had  not  even 
the  slightest  warrant,  founded  upon  official  re- 
port, as  to  the  basis  of  a  conclusion  at  which 
to  arrive.  The  citizen  only  knew  that  he  was 
called  upon   to   reform  the   habits   of   every-day 


150       LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

life  to  which  he  had  been  accustomed,  by  devot- 
ing a  considerable  portion  of  his  time  to  the  per- 
formance of  mihtary  evolutions  and  the  manipu- 
lation of  arms.  He  had  no  information  as  to  how 
many  besides  himself  might  be  so  employed  ; 
to  what  favored  districts  of  the  Empire  these 
exercises  might  be  confined,  or  of  the  purposes 
they  were  intended  to  subserve.  He  was  not 
only  allowed  to  believe,  but  encouraged  in  the 
belief,  that  his  country  might  at  some  future  day 
decide  to  move  toward  the  fulfillment  of  that 
destiny  of  dominion  prefigured  in  her  traditions,, 
and  that  the  prosecution  of  that  design  might 
demand  a  great  military  effort,  which  would  chal- 
lenge the  patriotism  of  every  citizen. 

This  system  of  military  training,  at  length,, 
toward  the  close  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  had 
metamorphosed  a  nation  of  toiling  husbandmen 
into  a  military  people, — but  properly  more  thaa 
merely  a  military  people,  although  not,  formally, 
a  standing  army.  So  perfect  had  they  rendered 
their  military  organization,  that  while  they  still 
pursued  their  peaceful  avocations,  the  Imperial 
order,  flashed  by  telegraph  around  the  circuit  of 
the  Empire,  could,  at  any  time,  call  to  arms  a  well 
disciplined  force  of  twenty  millions  of  men, — and 
this  exclusive  of  one  million,  besides,  trained  solely 
to  the  profession  of  arms,  and  pursuing  no  other 
avocation.  Although  preserving  intact  this  splen- 
did military  establishment,   her  productive  indus- 


LAST    DAYS   OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  I5I 

tries  were  not  neglected,  while  her  commerce 
continued  to  increase. 

The  achievements  of  the  Caucasian  intellect  she 
next  turned  to  account,  by  supplying  the  markets 
of  Asia  with  Western  contrivances  manufactured 
at  home,  while  her  teas,  silks,  and  other  articles 
of  export,  were  no  longer  exchanged  solely  for 
manufactured  goods,  but  gathered  into  her  treas- 
ury the  coins  of  every  nation  of  the  globe. 

Her  increased  commerce  soon  necessitated  the 
increase  of  commercial  facilities ;  and  she  accord- 
ingly set  about  the  work  of  amplifying  the  capacity 
of  her  merchant  marine.  She  instituted  this  move- 
mant  by  refitting  her  navy  yards  after  the  manner 
of  Western  nations.  But  the  process  of  ship- 
building, hurried  even  to  the  fullest  capacity,  was 
too  tardy  to  satisfy  the  commercial  requirements 
of  the  country ;  so  that  it  became  necessary  to 
resort  to  auxiliary  means  of  procurement.  Accord- 
ingly, her  commercial  agents  were  to  be  found 
negotiating  the  purchase  of  merchant  vessels  at 
all  the  principal  maritime  cities  of  Europe. 

Indeed,  at  this  period,  in  the  management  of  her 
affairs,  nothing  was  neglected.  A  spirit  of  watch- 
ful enterprise  was  abroad,  which  filled  her  ports 
with  commerce,  her  inland  territory  with  busy 
industry,  her  schools  and  colleges  with  students 
of  science  and  art,  her  store-houses  and  granaries 
with  articles  of  consumption  and  export,  and  her 


152        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

magazines  and  arsenals  with  arms  and  munitions 
of  war. 

Except  we  consider  the  marvelous  reign  of 
Charles  III,  of  Spain,  history  furnishes  no  instance 
of  a  change  and  improvement  so  vast,  in  a  period 
of  time  so  brief  as  that  which  marked  the  progress 
of  China,  from  the  date  of  the  Burlingame  Treaty 
to  the  close  of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  In  this 
case,  the  exploit  was,  perhaps,  greater  ;  for  Charles 
III  had  only  to  revivify  a  naval,  political,  social 
and  military  corse,  which  had  been  embalmed  for 
a  hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  restore  it  to  the 
normal  exercise  of  its  dormant  faculties ;  but  in 
China,  as  we  have  seen,  it  was  the  education  and 
advancement  of  a  people  from  the  exercise  and 
employment  of  the  customs,  habits  and  learning 
of  mediaeval  times  to  the  full  knowledge  and 
exercise  of  the  orandest  achievements  of  the 
most  enlicjhtened  countries  of  the  most  enliofht- 
ened  age. 

Contemporaneous  with  the  perfection  of  her 
military  system,  was  established  the  practical  per- 
fection of  her  naval  establishment.  Her  merchant- 
men, her  transports,  and  her  iron-clad  vessels  of 
war,  while  challenofinof  no  hostile  trial  of  strenorth, 
conceded  no  superiority, — not  even  of  that  of  the 
colossal  armament  of  England.  Her  vessels  of 
war  were  newer,  more  improved,  and  more  dura- 
ble, although  not,  perhaps,  so  numerous  as  those 
of  Great  Britain ;   but  her  merchantmen  outnum- 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  I53 

bered  those  of  any  other  nation.  She  had  thus 
been  enabled  to  obtain  the  greater  part  of  the 
trade  of  Asia,  as  the  market  for  her  manufac- 
tures,— articles  for  the  mechanism  of  which  she 
was  indebted  to  England  and  the  United  States, 
and  the  exclusive  trade  in  which  they  had  hereto- 
fore enjoyed. 

The  time  was  past  when  Great  Britain  could 
proceed  to  vanquish  this  competition,  in  a  way 
peculiarly  her  own;  nor  was  there  any  indication 
that  it  was  ever  to  return.  England  could  not 
dare  to  risk  the  safety  of  her  theoretical  empire 
in  India,  by  adopting  vigorous  tactics  for  the  sup- 
pression of  an  inconvenient  competition  in  trade, 
which  might  call  forth  reprisals  that  would  be 
slow  to  yield  either  to  force  or  conciliation.  Her 
opium  trade  had  already  suffered  from  the  Impe- 
rial frown  of  the  great  autocrat  of  souteastern 
Asia;  while  her  pretensions  to  the  territorial  ac- 
quisition of  Hong  Kong  were  roughly  rebuked: 
indeed,  her  further  continuance  at  that  emporium, 
and  even  its  freedom  to  her  traffic,  were  made 
conditional  upon  the  tacit  surrender  of  her  pro- 
prietary pretensions.  England  was  in  no  condi- 
tion to  remonstrate,  and  her  knowledo-e  that  an 
army  of  many  millions  of  men  was  at  her  very 
door  suQforested  one  of  two  alternatives:  either 
peaceable  and  honorable  competition  or  humili- 
iating  surrender. 

Already  had  the  Chinese  government  apprised 


154        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

the  rulers  of  Farther  India,  that  China  was  pre- 
pared to  receive  tribute  from  their  several  territo- 
ries, as  her  own  boundary  had  been  extended  on 
the  southwest,  from  the  Himalaya  Mountains  to 
the  mouths  of  the  Ganges.  The  protest  of  Siam 
which,  for  a  brief  period,  threatened  to  call  forth 
a  resort  to  arms,  was  the  only  energetic  dissent 
from  this  exercise  of  sovereign  pleasure,  which 
she  was  called  upon  to  reconcile;  and  this  she 
effected  by  diplomatic  correspondence,  emphasized 
by  the  presence  of  a  formidable  fleet  cruising  list- 
lessly near  the  Gulf  of  Siam,  in  the  China  Sea. 

Thus  it  was,  that  without  drawing  her  sword 
from  its  scabbard,  and  without  the  consumption  of 
any  portion  of  her  great  military  stores,  but  solely 
by  a  judiciously  managed  display  of  irresistible 
power,  the  Chinese  Empire  became,  in  an  inter- 
national sense,  the  dictator  of  the  policy  of  Asia. 
She  could,  at  any  moment,  by  the  simple  expres- 
sion of  her  will,  procure  the  usurpation  of  the 
neutral  territory  between  Russia  and  England,  and 
involve  those  powers  in  a  relentless  and  exhaust- 
ing Asiatic  war.  She  could,  on  the  other  hand, 
alienate  from  either  power  the  allegiance  of  its 
Asiatic  subjects  and  procure  rebellion;  or  she 
could  still  further  complicate  the  question  by  pro- 
curing rebellion  as  well  as  international  strife. 

Both  Persia  and  Turkestan  had  long  been  im- 
patient of  the  encroachments  of  Russia,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  hardly  less  so  of  England,  upon  the 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  155 

Other.  Hindoostan  longed  for  the  restoration  of 
her  native  Princes;  Af^^lianistan  was  thirstino-  for 
the  opportunity  of  resenting  the  insulting  and 
domineerinof  insolence  of  Encrland,  while  her  south- 
em  neighbor  might  be  relied  upon  to  contribute 
her  share  to  the  cause  of  resistance  aofainst  British 
authority.  It  needed  but  the  intimation  of  China 
that  she  would  look  with  patronizing  interest  upon 
any  efforts  of  those  States  in  the  cause  of  their 
independence,  to  kindle  a  barbarous  war  that 
would  occupy  the  full  time  and  every  energy  of 
her  yet  more  powerful  neighbors,  to  suppress. 

Such  is  a  brief,  but  not  an  imperfect,  summary, 
in  general  detail,  of  the  power,  the  influence  and 
the  characteristics  of  the  Chinese  Empire  toward 
the  close  of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  Her  avail- 
able army  was  many  times  greater  than  that  of 
all  the  rest  of  Asia,  besides;  her  fleet  equal  to 
that  of  the  most  powerful  fleet  of  Europe,  her 
commerce  employing  a  greater  number  of  mer- 
chant vessels  than  that  of  any  other  nation;  her 
internal  improvements,  her  manufactures,  and  her 
agricultural  industries  in  a  most  flourishing  condi- 
tion, and  her  supremacy  acknowledged  all  over 
one  hemisphere  of  the  globe. 

Conscious  of  her  power,  and  fully  awake  to 
every  advantage  by  which  she  was  surrounded, 
she  looked  with  calm  dignity  at  the  evident  appre- 
hension which  her  neiofhbors  were  no  longer  able 
to  conceal.     In  her  days  of  ignorance  and  poverty 


156  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

she  was  great  in  her  own  estimation,  because 
unacquainted  with  the  true  elements  of  national 
greatness.  She  had  shut  herself  in  from  the  con- 
templation of  the  rival  powers  and  races  of  the 
Earth,  and  fed  her  ambition  for  national  glory 
upon  an  imaginary  prestige  born  of  her  ignorance, 
her  vanity  and  her  credulous  regard  for  the  legends 
and  traditions  that  promised  to  place  beneath  her 
sceptre  the  "entire  circuit  of  all  lands." 

But,  now,  she  was  enlightened,  rich  and  power- 
ful ;  while  her  pride  remained  unimpaired.  Her 
traditions  were  not  the  less  sacred,  however;  for 
they  had  come  down  the  flights  of  unknown  ages 
from  the  realm  of  prehistoric  times,  and  seemed 
now,  even  to  her  enlightened  observation,  not  a 
mere  chimera,  but  a  startling  prophecy,  already 
entered  upon  the  period  of  its  realization. 

How  great  and  how  wise  must  have  been  her 
ancestors,  who  could  thus  brush  aside  the  curtain 
of  unknown  centuries,  and  bounding  across  the 
barriers  of  Time,  and  the  vicissitudes  and  accidents 
of  human  actions,  could  grasp,  as  a  living  entity, 
the  sacred  mystery  of  a  nation's  destiny!  How 
favored  among  the  races  of  men  that  people  who 
can  turn  to  a  record  like  this !  How  manifest  the 
design  that  had  fostered  a  country  for  such  spe- 
cially attested  ends ;  preserved  her  territorial 
integrity,  her  national  characteristics,  and  the  lofty 
inspiration  of  her  people,  amidst  the  crash  of  suc- 
cessive   empires,  the    extinction  of  peoples,  and 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  I57 

the  mysterious  and  desolating  throes  of  Nature! 
These,  and  kindred  considerations,  they  were  that 
swelled  the  national  heart,  and  fitted  the  people 
to  enter  upon  the  fulfillment  of  their  astonishing 
destiny. 

Her  authority  being  thus  established  at  home, 
as  well  througrh  her  own  streng-th  as  through  the 
weakness  or  the  jealousy  of  her  neighbors,  she  was 
fully  prepared  to  prosecute  her  designs  against  the 
Western  Hemisphere. 

It  is  intentionally,  and  with  a  definite  purpose, 
that  the  word  "Hemisphere"  is  employed  in  this 
connection ;  and  it  is  intended  in  its  broadest 
sense ;  for,  while  the  immediate  efforts  of  the 
invader  were  to  be  directed  aofainst  the  United 
States,  they  were,  probably,  to  a  great  extent  so 
because  they,  alone,  of  the  powers  of  the  Western 
Hemisphere,  seemed  formidable ;  and  their  subju- 
gation would  prove,  not  only  a  great  immediate 
advantage,  but  would  likewise  remove  the  last 
serious  obstacle  to  the  occupation  of  the  whole 
continent. 

There  was  but  little  danger  of  Mexico,  or  the 
countries  of  South  America,  growing  up  to  a 
magnitude  that  would  be  likely  to  defy  the  efforts 
she  should  make  for  their  subjugation,  when  the 
time  should  come  that  it  might  please  her  to 
extend  her  dominions,  in  the  New  World,  beyond 
the  territorial  boundaries  of  the  United  States. 

Toward  the  north  she  neither  feared  opposition. 


158  L\ST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

nor  desired  conquest,  at  present.  Her  Asiatic 
neighbor  was  here,  again,  the  mistress  of  contigu- 
ous territory ;  but  the  check  she  held  upon  that 
neighbor,  through  her  Indian  possessions,  was 
ample  to  secure  her  non-intervention. 

However  indisposed  to  rapid  movements  in  any 
enterprise,  China  was  compelled  by  circumstances 
to  depart  from  her  usual  method  with  regard  to 
the  progress  of  the  conquest  in  hand.  Her  states- 
men and  emissaries  advised  immediate  action,  after 
a  careful  study  of  the  entire  situation,  in  connec- 
tion with  a  shrewd  interpretation  of  the  American 
character.  They  reported  that  they  discovered, 
in  this  case,  a  people  unlike  the  Asiatics  in  every- 
thing; a  people  who,  having  never  felt  the  arm 
of  despotism,  would  submit  to  nothing  in  the  way 
of  oppression  or  political  injustice  for  any  consid- 
erable length  of  time.  They  saw,  in  connection 
with  this,  the  United  States  of  America  loaded 
down  with  administrative  abuses  and  inequalities, 
while  the  rostrum  resounded  with  declarations  of 
equal  rights,  and  professions  of  honest,  economical 
administration  of  public  affairs.  They  saw  a  gov- 
ernment entirely  in  the  hands  and  under  the  con- 
trol of  a  single  class  of  its  citizens ;  while,  again, 
the  rostrum  thundered:  "A  government  of  the 
people,  for  the  people,  and  by  the  people."  They 
saw  that  the  masses  of  the  people  were  alive  to 
this  inequality,  and  were  daily  becoming  more  and 
more  dissatisfied  with  the  current  of  events ;  and 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  1 59 

they  knew  that  they  would  suffer  this  state  of 
public  affairs  no  longer  than  might  be  necessary 
to  convince  them  that  it  was,  indeed,  to  be  made 
perpetual.  They  knew  that  the  people  of  the 
Republic,  when  once  aroused,  would  shiver  that 
miserable  despotism  at  a  blow,  regardless  of  the 
cost,  whether  of  treasure  or  of  human  life.  They 
knew,  moreover,  that  the  primal  and  indirect 
cause  of  this  brooding  revolution  was  the  pres- 
ence, throughout  the  United  States,  of  many 
millions  of  their  own  people,  who  had  undergone 
the  ceremony  of  naturalization ;  and  they  knew 
that  the  first  blow  to  be  struck  would  be  a<:ra-inst 
these.  This  might  fall  at  any  moment;  and  for 
this  they  advised  that  the  Imperial  government 
should  be  prepared. 

Accordingly,  the  emigration  to  America,  both 
directly  and  by  way  of  the  Mediterranean,  was 
conducted  without  intermission.  The  class  of  emi- 
grants which  was  now  pressing  to  the  front  con- 
sisted exclusively  of  men  thoroughly  trained  to 
the  use  of  arms,  and  ready  to  fall  into  line  when- 
ever commanded  so  to  do.  Of  this  class  of  immi- 
grants was  constituted  more  than  half  the  popula- 
tion of  Mississippi,  Florida  and  Louisiana,  besides 
a  large  population  throughout  the  whole  valley 
of  the  Mississippi  river ;  but  the  States  named 
had  fallen  under  the  political  sway  of  the  Mon- 
golians. 

For  several  years  past,  the  Chinese  shippers  in 


l6o        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

San  Francisco  had  been  receivino-  consio-nments 
of  arms  and  fixed  ammunition  from  New  England 
manufacturers,  ostensibly  for  shipment  to  the  East; 
but  all  such  stores,  instead  of  passing  on  board  the 
China-bound  vessels,  were  surreptitiously  depos- 
ited in  San  Francisco,  together  with  certain  mys- 
terious stores  imported  from  China,  to  await  the 
orders  of  the  home  government,  as  to  their  dis- 
position. 

Such  was  the  attitude  of  the  actors  in  this 
drama,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Twentieth  Century. 
The  plan  of  invasion  was,  perhaps,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, the  most  cunning  ever  devised  for  the 
accomplishment  of  so  great  an  end,  and  carried 
into  practical  execution.  Here  was  a  nation  be- 
yond the  Pacific,  contemplating  a  conquest  quite 
incredible  in  its  purpose,  and  not  less  so  in  its 
audacity ;  and  maintaining,  up  to  the  very  hour 
of  the  opening  of  the  struggle,  terms  apparently 
of  the  most  perfect  amity. 

In  the  absence  of  the  particular  experience 
afforded  by  the  present  instance,  it  might  have 
been  asked,  in  what  manner  could  the  government 
of  China,  by  any  possibility,  maintain  in  the  midst 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States  an  army  of 
sufficient  strength  to  carry  out  the  object  to  which 
she  might  be  thus  miad  enough  to  aspire? 

But  it  were  useless  to  indulge  in  hypothetical 
explanation,  in  view  of  the  living  fact.  She  trans- 
ferred   five    and   a   half    millions    of    soldiers    to 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  l6l 

America  in  the  capacity  of  laborers.  By  a  course 
of  intrigue  and  bribery,  she  managed  to  procure 
an  amendment  to  the  naturalization  laws  of  the 
United  States,  by  which  these  soldier-laborers 
were  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  citizenship.  This 
accomplished,  she  caused  their  concentration  at 
given  points,  until,  by  gradual  accretion  by  further 
continued  immiofration,  their  numbers  became  suffi- 
ciently  great  to  take  the  political  control  of  a 
State,  and  then  of  other  and  several  States. 

These  results  obtained,  she  was  now  in  position, 
through  the  aid  of  friendly  State  governments,  to 
prosecute  her  designs,  untrammeled.  The  officers 
of  the  several  States  under  their  control  were 
simply  the  appointees  of  the  Official  Board  at 
Peking,  who  were  submitted  to  the  forms  of  an 
election,  here,  to  satisfy  the  constitutional  require- 
ments of  this  government. 

She  was  thus  enabled  to  convert  the  city  of 
San  Francisco  into  a  great  depot  of  military  stores, 
with  branch  establishments  in  Mississippi,  Lou- 
isiana and  Florida. 

All  this  time,  by  artfully  balancing  her  repre- 
sentation between  the  hostile  political  parties  in 
America — flattering  and  aiding  each  one  alter- 
nately— denouncing,  applauding,  condemning,  ap- 
proving, as  the  objects  in  view  might  demand,  she 
kept  alive  and  glowing  that  partisan  rancor  and 
insane  prejudice,  that  political  antagonism  and 
sectional  antipathy  which  first  began  to  disgrace 


1 62        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

the  nation  and  divide  the  people  immediately  after 
the  peace  of  1864.  The  whole  attention  of  the 
government  being  thus  centered  upon  the  ques- 
tion of  partisan  superiority  embittered  by  sectional 
contention,  there  was  no  time  left  to  indulge  po- 
litical abstractions,  or  to  discover  the  presence  of 
danger  in  the  increasing  activity  of  Coolie  immi- 
gration. 

The  Imperial  intriguers  contemplated  with  acute 
satisfaction,  the  political  discord,  and  with  yet 
greater  satisfaction  the  sectional  jealousy  of  the 
people.  They  had  labored  for  this,  and  their 
efforts  had  been  more  than  simply  successful. 
Thus  far,  indeed,  their  labors  were  emphatic- 
ally recognized.  The  revolutionary  tendency 
had  hastened  forward  even  much  more  rapidly 
than  they  had  either  anticipated,  or  desired. 
Their  arrangements  for  a  grand  coitp-de-grace 
might  have  been  more  ample  if  the  people  could 
have  been  longer  restrained.  True,  the  blow  had 
not  yet  fallen;  but  there  was  no  longer  any  assur- 
ance that  it  would  be  deferred  for  a  week  or  even 
for  a  day. 

The  popular  tumult  had  become  appalling.  Ef- 
forts such  as  had  heretofore  served  to  tranquilize 
the  current  of  public  sentiment,  were  regarded 
with  undisguised  contempt;  while  the  suggestion 
of  armed  repression  was  received  with  open  defi- 
ance. Confidence  had  nowhere  a  pillow  upon 
which  to  repose,  throughout  the  whole  Republic, 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  1 63 

and  it  was  now  plainly  evident  that  the  great  gov- 
ernmental prodigy  of  the  New  World  was  blindly 
gathering  her  giant  energies  for  one  last  effort  to 
protect  her  brood  from  the  lurking  danger  which 
maternal  solicitude  whispered  to  her  was  at  her 
door.  She  had  not  stopped  to  weigh  the  conse- 
quences of  the  probable  struggle.  Her  )  outhful 
viofor  miofht  have  been  misdirected  but  it  was  not 
impaired,  while  the  craven  finger  of  abject  fear 
had  never  traced  a  furrow  upon  the  majesty  of 
her  brow.  She  only  saw  that  Freedom,  the  cher- 
ished daughter  of  her  holiest  attachment,  had 
been  stolen  from  the  guardsmen  chosen  to  defend 
the  Temple  of  Human  Liberty.  She  raised  her 
mighty  arm  to  strike  down  the  stalking  felon,  but 
it  fell  shattered  and  nerveless  by  her  side,  crushed 
beneath  a  blow  far  mio-htier  than  her  own. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

American   Society Extremes  of  Luxury  and  of  Squalor 

Some  Reflections  upon  the  Constitution  of  Human  Nature 

Class  Attributes Obstacle  to   Race  Assimilation 

Natural  Laws  of  Society   become  Lnoperative Sectional 

Conditions The  Coolie  and  the   Negro Subversion  at 

the  South Mongolians  in  Office The  Militia,  Old  and 

New Mongolian     Obtuseness Race    Comparison Ad- 
ministrative Lnfidelity. 

As  INTIMATED  in  the  last  chapter,  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  invaders  had  forced  a  crisis  in  the 
affairs  of  the  United  States,  which,  in  turn,  im- 
pelled to  greater  exertion  on  the  part  of  the  Chi- 
nese, in  order  to  meet  the  tide  of  revolution  by 
force,  should  their  efforts  in  behalf  of  compromise 
or  conciliation  prove  ineffectual, 

A  glance  at  the  attitude  of  the  contending 
forces  in  the  United  States  about  the  close  of  the 
Century  would  reveal  a  chaos  of  political,  social 
and  moral  forces,  from  which  the  most  sanguine 
student  of  human  nature  could  hardly  hope  to 
extract  order,  harmony,  or  government,  except 
through  the  wasting  and  purifying  process  of  a 
revolution,  that  would  drag  into  its  vortex  every 
element  of  society,  from  the  lordlings  of  the  Sen- 
ate to  the  squalid  beggar  of  the  city's  purlieus. 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        1 65 

There  were  only  two  grand  subdivisions  of 
society,  and  these  might  be  expressed  in  the  two 
words,  Employer  and  Employed.  The  middle 
class  of  other  days,  which,  although  independent, 
was  disposed  to  labor  still,  had  no  longer  a  repre- 
sentation that  entitled  it  to  consideration.  These 
had  either  overcome  competition  and  scaled  the 
ladder  of  commercial  fame,  to  riot  in  the  luxuries 
of  the  period,  or  were  crushed  in  the  struggle,  and 
sank  to  irremediable  bankruptcy.  The  employer 
had  ceased  to  bestow  his  personal  attention  upon 
matters  of  business,  but  collected  his  rents,  or  his 
profits,  weekly,  and  devoted  his  time  to  that  riot 
and  debauchery  which  the  necessities  of  society 
so  abundantly  supplied. 

At  this  period  it  might  be  justly  said  that  the 
spirit  of  the  Republic  had  passed  away,  leaving 
its  inanimate  body  to  console  for  the  loss  of  the 
living  entity.  The  enterprises  of  the  rich,  which 
were  wont  to  supply  the  necessities  of  the  labor- 
ing classes,  were  no  longer  incumbered  by  the 
maintenance  of  the  families  and  homes  of  the 
toiling  poor.  A  new  class  of  labor  had  offered 
incomparable  advantages  above  the  old,  and  the 
ancient  system  was  literally  disorganized.  The 
rich  and  powerful  now  looked  abroad  over  the 
ocean  of  humanity  at  their  feet,  whose  every 
suro^e  sent  forth  an  echoinof  curse  agfainst  the 
decrees  of  destiny. 

They  heard  the  murmur  of  despair,  the  cry  of 


1 66  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

grief,  or  the  shriek  of  mental  anguish,  forever 
ringing  out  from  the  homeless  throng,  as  some 
family  tie  was  suddenly  sundered  by  the  demon 
of  want  or  the  victory  of  the  suicide.  They 
looked  upon  the  popular  distress  only  to  indulge 
a  shallow  speculation  upon  the  reigning  brutality 
and  vice,  and  to  call  for  and  obtain  the  enactment 
of  yet  more  stringent  laws,  by  which  they  hoped 
to  stifle  the  voice  and  paralyze  the  action  of  insen- 
sate misery. 

The  moral  precept,  sacred  to  the  early  admin- 
istrations of  the  Republic,  which  recognized  the 
equality  of  all  men,  had  degenerated  into  a  sneer, 
and  the  very  semblance  of  administrative  justice 
had  disappeared  from  the  forums  early  consecrated 
to  the  equal  dispensations  under  the  laws.  If  the 
distinct  classes  ever  came  in  contact,  it  was  only 
to  increase  the  wretchedness  and  degradation  of 
the  masses;  for  the  rich  sought  this  association 
only  to  indulge  the  basest  passions  of  their  nature. 

In  this  particular  the  moneyed  classes  of  America 
were  not  worse  than  were  their  European  proto- 
types, ere  yet  the  equality  of  men  had  become  a 
doo-ma  of  moral  government.  The  vices  of  the 
day  were  simply  the  result  of  a  relapse  born  of 
circumstances  that  human  foresight  had  failed  to 
detect. 

It  would  seem  no  more  than  simple  justice,  that, 
while  a  man  may  be  made  accountable  for  his 
wrongful  acts  by  the  rules  of  social  organization, 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  1 67 

he  should  not  be  condemned  for  the  innate  base- 
ness of  his  nature,  nor  punished  except  by  the 
infliction  of  that  restraint  which  the  pubHc  security 
has  a  right  to  exact.  He  was  in  no  sense  a  party 
to  its  original  constitution,  else  mio^ht  its  dictates 
have  impelled  to  a  course  exemplary  in  the  highest 
degree.  By  the  normal  exercise  of  his  selfish  pro- 
pensities, for  instance,  an  individual  may  become 
the  incarnation  of  all  that  is  vicious,  of  all  that  is 
thoroughly  wicked  and  depraved ;  and  that  such 
is  not  the  history,  in  brief,  of  more  than  half  of 
mankind,  is  owing  to  the  circumstance  that  the 
exercise  of  the  selfish  instincts  of  every  other 
interpose  an  insuperable  barrier  to  the  overshad- 
owing advancement  of  any  one.  Luxury  and  vice 
are  convertible  terms,  and  human  nature  is  only 
the  instrument  by  which  their  mutual  correspond- 
ence, or  inter-relation,  is  made  discernible.  Human 
sympathy  is  but  the  creature  of  education  and 
enlicrhtened  observation.  It  ever  erects  its  hab- 
itation  upon  the  ruins  of  moral  depravity ;  but,  let 
vice  regain  his  empire,  through  the  suspension 
of  enlightened  sentiment,  and  he  quickly  razes 
this  rival  fabric,  and  robs  the  human  heart  of  all 
those  emotions  which  were,  before,  the  safeguard 
of  virtue,  and  the  champions  of  every  human 
friendship. 

The  employer  class  of  the  country  had  reached 
this  stage.  Its  luxury  was  all  that  wealth  could 
supply ;  its  vices  all  that  have  hitherto  marked  the 


1 68       LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

degradation  and  decline  of  races  and  peoples.  Its 
sensibilities  had  become  blunted  by  a  long  course 
of  sensual  gratification,  and  its  members  reveled 
in  their  folly,  oblivious  of  everything  save  only 
their  selfish  enjoyments. 

The  class  which  has  been  desiofnated  the  em- 
ployed  was  made  up  of  a  compound  of  nationalities 
and  races,  whose  several  peculiarities  were  thrown 
into  relief  by  the  exigencies  of  a  life  which  called 
forth  every  attribute  of  their  several  natures — all 
their  race  and  national  characteristics.  Of  this 
human  admixture,  perhaps  the  most  wretched 
element  was  that  made  up  of  the  native-born 
American  citizens.  Their  loftier  aims,  their  higher 
ambition,  and  their  innate  sense  of  intellectual 
superiority,  engendered  by  an  hereditary  instinct 
of  independence  and  command,  could  illy  sustain 
the  squalor  into  which  they  were  cast.  The  same 
condition  did  not  press  with  equal  severity  upon 
those  who  had  sprung  from  the  dregs  of  European 
society. 

Theirs  was  a  condition  of  frenzy,  disappointment 
and  disgust ;  but  beyond  all  these  in  point  of 
intensity  arose  the  apprehension  that  their  country, 
their  common  inheritance,  was  in  the  throes  of  dis- 
solution. Whithersoever  they  turned,  they  found 
only  wretchedness  and  discontent,  and  open  infrac- 
tion of  every  municipal  enactment. 

How  those  idle  thousands  subsisted  from  day 
to  day  was  a  problem  too  dark  for  solution ;  and 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        1 69 

if  the  secret  of  their  existence  were  laid  bare,  it 
would  reveal  the  extreme  of  human  endurance 
and  human  suffering, — a  picture  from  the  contem- 
plation of  which  the  ordinary  sympathies  of  man 
must  turn  appalled. 

How  many  times  the  struggle  of  pride  and 
virtue  against  the  encroachments  of  penury  and 
the  allurements  that  urge  to  degradation,  may 
have  terminated  in  dashing  another,  and  still  an- 
other, star  from  the  moral  firmament ;  how  often 
accumulated  appeals  to  the  sympathies  of  their 
kind  were  answered  by  the  scotf  of  the  powerful, 
or  by  their  indifference  ;  how  often  the  temples 
of  Justice  were  profaned  by  the  abuse  of  power, 
and  the  perversion  of  the  laws  ;  how  often  the  will 
of  the  voluptuary,  alone,  may  have  sprung  the 
prison  bolts  behind  the  objects  of  his  apprehen- 
sion, as  they  entered,  or  even  brought  these  latter 
to  the  scaffold,  —  these  are  queries  which  admit 
of  large  affirmative  response,  but  which  it  is 
neither  profitable  to  unravel  nor  elevating  to  con- 
template. They  were  the  inseparable  conse- 
quences of  the  wide-spread  moral  ruin  of  the 
time  ;  the  indicia  of  the  inherent  putridity  of  the 
^whole  social  system. 

The  picture  presented  here  is  more  particularly 
applicable  to  the  cities  of  New  England.  It  was 
estimated,  at  this  period,  that  fifteen  per  cent,  of 
the  whole  white  laboring  population  were  con- 
stantly   employed ;     twenty-five    per   cent,    were 


I/O        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

transiently  employed,  and  the  remaining-  sixty  per 
cent,  were  not  known  to  follow  any  lucrative  occu- 
pation. 

Not  only  the  cities,  but  the  country  districts, 
were  teeming  with  an  avaricious  Chinese  popula- 
tion. These  latter,  without  family  ties,  and  living 
in  communities,  were,  in  proportion  to  their  wants, 
by  far  better  protected,  better  housed  and  fed, 
than  any  other  element  of  the  laboring  or  em- 
ployed class.  Their  earnings  were  incredibly 
meagre  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  their  labor, 
but  more  than  ample  to  supply  their  modest  fare. 
They  were  generally  employed  in  all  departments 
of  trade  and  manufacture,  and  in  many  instances 
had  worked  themselves  up  to  the  status  of  the 
employer  class. 

Always  industrious  and  faithful  in  whatever  ca- 
pacity employed,  prosperity  marked  the  sphere  of 
their  occupation.  Many  of  them  manifested  the 
disposition  to  intermarry  with  the  daughters  of 
New  England,  and  in  several  instances  such  mar- 
riages were  consummated.  But  the  prominent 
men  among  them,  while  they  indulged  the  luxury 
of  American  wives  themselves,  were  wont  to  frown 
upon  a  like  inclination  among  the  masses  of  their 
countrymen,  and  spared  no  effort  to  discourage 
and  obstruct  the  tendency  to  race  assimilation. 

The  cause  of  their  unwillinofness  to  countenance 
this  most  reasonable  disposition  on  the  part  of  their 
people  at  large,  althouo-h  difficult  to  fathom  at  that 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        I/I 

time,  becomes  plainly  manifest  in  the  light  of  sub- 
sequent events.  New  England  was  teeming  with 
marriageable,  but  unmarried  women,  and  should 
the  intermarriage  of  the  races  become  epidemic, 
it  would  surely  very  seriously  afi'ect  the  enterprise 
in  hand.  Even  the  Coolie,  whose  patriotism  is  so 
intense  that  he  is  not  satisfied  to  rest  even  in 
death  unless  his  bones  are  deposited  in  the  hal- 
lowed soil  of  his  mother  country,  might,  under  the 
influence  of  his  Caucasian  wife,  refuse  to  strike 
when  the  moment  for  action  should  arrive.  It 
were,  therefore,  far  better  for  the  cause  to  post- 
pone this  felicitous  condition  until  after  the  work 
of  conquest  should  have  been  determined. 

The  institution  of  marriage  amongf  the  white 
laborers  had  well  nicfh  fallen  into  disuse.  There 
was  no  settled  purpose  among  the  idle  thousands, 
and  no  prospects  upon  which  to  base  a  purpose  of 
any  enterprise,  however  unassuming.  Of  course, 
the  marriage  relation,  which  presupposes  the  ac- 
cumulation of  responsibilities,  was  an  impossibility 
in  view  of  circumstances  like  these,  if  we  also 
credit  the  generation  with  the  ordinary  reasoning 
faculties  of  civilized  man.  But  in  this  respect  the 
record  stamps  the  evidence  of  their  rational  dis- 
crimination. Very  few  marriages  were  contracted 
even  among  those  of  the  white  laborers  who  were 
still  fortunate  enough  to  find  employment.  Their 
tenure  of  occupation  was  far  too  uncertain  to  war- 


172  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

rant  the  risk  of  a  responsibility  that  might  crush 
them  at  last. 

But  among  the  idle  and  destitute  all  was  chaos. 
Theirs  was  a  struggle  for  existence,  in  the  prose- 
cution of  which  all  order,  all  system  and  every 
ceremony  were  alike  disregarded.  There  was  no 
time  to  be  devoted  to, that  sentimental  play  of  the 
affections  incident  to  matrimonial  preliminaries, 
while  the  unromantic  circumstance  of  actual  want 
made  the  physical  man  a  slave  to  other  and  meaner 
emotions.  Marriages  among  the  idle  and  desti- 
tute were,  therefore,  clearly  impossible,  and  had 
entirely  ceased. 

Throughout  the  Middle  and  Western  States,  the 
industries  of  which  are,  on  the  whole,  similar  to 
those  of  New  England,  the  race  controversy  and 
its  consequences  differed  from  those  described  in 
decree  rather  than  in  kind.  The  Coolie  element, 
although  a  large  proportion  of  the  laboring  popu- 
lation, was  not  so  overwhelming  as  to  precipitate 
that  degree  of  distress  prevalent  in  New  England. 

But  even  there  the  direction  of  events  was  un- 
mistakable. The  line  of  demarcation  between  the 
employer  and  the  employed  was  every  day  be- 
coming more  clearly  defined.  Cheap  labor  was 
insidiously  working  itself  into  popularity,  and  its 
reception  was  marked  by  a  growing  disposition 
among  its  patrons  tending  to  the  indulgence  of 
luxurious  indolence.  The  army  of  "tramps"  was 
every  day  obtaining  recruits  from  the  displaced 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        1 73 

workmen.  These  traveled  about  from  place  to 
place,  with  no  fixed  object  in  view  beyond  that  of 
obtaining  the  means  of  subsistence,  and  this  was 
generally  furnished  by  the  charitable  people  to 
whom  they  applied.  They  did  not,  as  a  rule, 
indulge  in  either  theft  or  robbery,  save  that  they 
carried  on  a  system  of  reprisals  against  the  Coolies, 
whom  they  invariably  despoiled  of  money,  or 
other  valuables,  whenever  favorable  opportunity 
offered. 

During  the  period  that  the  Eastern,  Middle  and 
Western  States  were  thus  gradually  bending  to 
the  pressure  of  circumstances,  the  Southern  States 
were  subjected  to  a  far  deeper  humiliation.  The 
industries  peculiar  to  those  States,  their  climate 
and  productions,  were  eminently  congenial  to  the 
wants,  the  habits  and  the  constitution  of  the  Mon- 
golian. Of  a  common  tendency  with  these  causes 
was  the  insatiable  demand  for  Coolie  labor  in  all 
the  rice,  sugar  and  cotton-producing  States,  ever 
since  the  earliest  stages  of  the  immiorration:  hence 
it  was,  that  during  the  whole  period  of  its  contin- 
uance into  the  States  east  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, two-thirds  of  all  the  immigrants  gravitated 
to  the  Southern  States. 

The  Negro,  heretofore  the  sole  dependence  of 
the  planter,  faded  before  this  invasion,  and  gradu- 
ally, but  rapidly  and  noiselessly  disappeared — 
perished,  it  seemed,  by  the  very  fact  of  contact, 
and    scattered,   none    knew  whither,   beyond   the 


174  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPL'BLIC. 

fact  that  many  of  them  were  transported  back  to 
the  home  of  their  ancestors.  At  this  period  it 
was  estimated  that  out  of  the  four  millions  of 
Blacks  that  were  emancipated  through  the  war 
of  the  rebellion,  less  than  half  a  million  remained. 

But  the  places  vacated  by  that  cheerful,  indolent 
people,  were  quickly  and  effectually  supplied  by 
the  sober,  industrious  Coolie;  and  here  as  else- 
where, under  their  skill  and  industry,  the  wealth 
of  the  country  rapidly  increased. 

The  people  of  the  Southern  States  have  always 
been  remarkable  for  the  very  exaggerated  notion 
they  entertain  of  the  respectability  of  the  profes- 
sion of  arms;  and  notwithstanding  the  complicated 
disaster  of  their  rebellious  struggle  of  1 86 1-4,  yet, 
as  a  people,  they  never  lost  one  whit  of  their 
vaunted  martial  spirit.  On  the  contrary,  it  hap- 
pened that  immediately  upon  the  restoration  of 
their  civil  rights,  they  began  the  unprofitable  task 
of  educating  their  young  men  in  the  tactics  of  war. 

This  movement  was  first  instituted  by  detach- 
ments, or  societies,  under  various  names,  as  "Ku- 
Klux,"  "Rifle  Clubs,"  "Regulators,"  etc.,  etc. 
These  several  bodies,  at  various  times,  constituted 
themselves  the  conservators  of  the  public  peace; 
and  in  such  cases  furnished  the  rules  of  conduct 
to  be  observed  as  well  as  a  somewhat  emphatic 
procedure  for  their  observance;  thus  not  only  sup- 
plying the  place  of  State  militia,  but  something 
else  besides.     The  State  militia,  proper,  they  did 


LAST   DAYS   OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  I  75 

not  feel  disposed  to  organize.  It  was  a  State 
institution,  having  the  approval  of  the  Federal 
government,  and  hence  they  looked  upon  it  with 
distrust.  In  time,  however,  their  hostility  to  the 
Union  became  sufficiently  allayed  to  induce  them 
to  blend  their  various  private  military  organiza- 
tions into  companies  of  State  militia;  and  having 
taken  this  step  they  became  further  ambitious 
to  make  their  militia  particularly  imposing  and 
excellent. 

To  what  extent  this  military  ambition  might 
have  been  indulged  it  were  useless  to  inquire,  as 
the  movement  was  suddenly  interrupted  by  a  most 
unexpected  and  very  extraordinary  circumstance. 
This  was  nothing  less  than  the  assumption  of  the 
reins  of  the  State  government  of  three  powerful 
States  by  their  Mongolian  citizens.  They  had 
availed  themselves  of  their  great  numbers  and 
the  high  privilege  of  American  citizenship;  and  at 
3.  general  election  voted  themselves  into  power. 

Upon  this  result  being  declared,  the  first  impulse 
of  the  deposed  rulers  of  these  States  was  to  com- 
pel the  acknowledgment  of  their  superior  claims, 
by  turning  their  splendid  military  organization 
ao-ainst  these  insolent  Coolies.  True,  these  latter 
considerably  outnumbered  them ;  but  that  circum- 
stance they  regarded  as  of  but  little  importance, 
if  the  contest  were  to  be  decided  by  force.  Two 
months  must  yet  elapse  before  their  term.s  of  office 
should  expire,  and  provisions  might  yet  be  made 


\j6  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

to  avert  the  combined  disaster  and  diso-race. 
Extensive  military  preparations  were,  therefore, 
inaugurated  throughout  many  of  the  Southern 
States,  several  of  which  saw  in  this  result  a  fore- 
ciist  of  that  which  awaited  themselves,  and  at  a 
period  by  no  means  remote. 

It  was  just  possible,  but  by  no  means  certain, 
that  the  Chinese  would  have  retired  from  the  dan- 
gerous position  which  they  had  assumed,  at  this 
juncture,  had  it  not  been  for  the  affirmative 
promptings  of  the  Federal  government.  But  the 
attitude  of  the  administration  toward  this  contro- 
versy admitted  of  no  doubt.  It  was  clearly  inti- 
mated that,  should  any  faction,  or  any  class  or 
combination,  of  the  citizens  of  any  State,  attempt, 
by  any  riotous  or  unlawful  means,  to  resist  the  due 
execution  and  enforcement  of  the  laws,  by  resist- 
ing the  due  installation  of  duly  elected  officers, 
who  should  have  duly  qualified,  to  fill  any  office 
within  such  or  any  State,  it  would  become  the 
imperative  duty  of  the  United  States  to  suppress 
all  such  treasonable  practices,  by  all  the  power  of 
the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States. 

In  the  face  of  this  manifesto,  there  was  nothing 
left  for  the  disaffected  States  but  submission.  This 
they  did,  but  in  a  manner  to  proclaim  their  disgust. 
By  pre-arrangement,  on  the  last  day  of  the  term, 
the  various  officers  assembled  at  the  Executive 
chamber,  in  the  several  States,  whence  they 
were  escorted  to  their  homes  by  military  proces- 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        I  7/ 

sions,  made  up  of  their  matchless  militia.  These 
marched,  with  arms  reversed,  to  the  sound  of 
muffled  drums,  while  the  national  emblem,  draped 
in  mourning,  floated  at  half-mast  from  every  flag- 
staff.    The  militia  then  disbanded. 

The  new  incumbents  entered  upon  the  duties 
of  their  offices  without  ceremony  or  parade.  By 
retaining  the  clerical  forces  of  their  predecessors 
in  the  several  offices,  they  were  enabled  to  des- 
patch the  routine  of  government  without  difficulty. 

But  the  shock  to  the  feelings  of  the  sanguine 
aristocrats  of  the  South  was  too  severe  to  be 
borne  without  some  further  demonstration.  Thou- 
sands converted  their  property  into  money,  and 
many  of  them  did  so  at  enormous  sacrifices,  in 
order  to  escape  from  the  scene  of  their  common 
humiliation.  Those  who  found  themselves  amply 
provided  with  means  embarked  for  Europe,  whence 
they  never  returned.  Those  who  retained  their 
landed  possessions  lost  nothing  of  material  value 
by  the  change,  and  were  poorer  only  in  the  loss 
of  that  gratification  which  they  had  before  in- 
dulged, of  feeling  secure  in  the  indefinite  pos- 
session of  wealth,  independence,  authority  and 
respectability  in  a  land  of  plenty. 

Among  the  first  measures  prosecuted  by  the 
new  government  was  the  re-establishment  of  the 
militia.  Three  Chinese  Mandarins,  who  had  under- 
gone the  formalities  of  naturalization  under  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  wielded  the  executive 


178        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

powers  of  three  of  the  Southern  States.  To  these 
men  and  their  co-equals  in  rank,  alone,  were 
entrusted  the  secrets  of  the  home  government. 
They  had  long  been  watching  for  a  pretense  to 
begin  the  work  of  placing  their  countrymen  on  a 
war  footing,  without  attracting  undue  notice,  or 
exciting  question  or  suspicion.  The  opportunity 
now  offered  was  quickly  seized  upon,  and  the 
scheme  was  soon  practically  under  way. 

Under  existin^r  regulations,  the  limitation  fixed 
upon  the  numerical  strength  of  the  regular  militia 
of  those  States,  prevented  its  reorganization  upon 
a  scale  sufficiently  grand  to  suit  the  purposes  of 
the  new  government.  The  law  was  accordingly 
amended,  by  striking  out  all  terms  of  limitation. 

However  imposing  may  have  been  the  militia 
force  disbanded,  at  the  time  of  the  ascendency  ol 
the  Mongolian  to  power  within  those  States,  that 
which  now  supplied  its  place  was  hardly  less  so. 
What  the  Mongolian  lacked  in  point  of  personal 
appearance,  was  more  than  supplied  in  point  ol 
numerical  force.  Their  white  fellow-citizens,  who 
had  meanwhile  watched  their  military  prepara- 
tions, indulged  their  mingled  contempt  and  aver- 
sion by  the  most  derisory  strictures  upon  the  com- 
inof  militia. 

But  the  Chinese  character  is  completely  impreg- 
nable to  the  assaults  of  ridicule  and  sarcasm. 
These  are  weapons  the  use  of  which  the  Asiatic 
neither  fears  nor  understands.     His  matter-of-fact 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        1 79 

character  discovers  no  reflection  nor  severity  in 
their  use,  unless  it  may  be  that  he  discovers  a 
reprehensible  or  unbecoming  levity  upon  the  part 
of  the  satirist.  In  this  case,  however,  the  critics 
were  compelled  to  moderate  their  strictures  upon 
witnessing  the  first  military  parade  of  a  body  of 
several  thousand  of  the  new  militia. 

Here  was  a  people  whom  they  had  regarded  as 
immeasurably  below  themselves  in  every  respect, 
but  particularly  in  their  presumed  ignorance  of  the 
art  of  war,  executing  all  the  evolutions  of  a  diffi- 
cult military  drill  and  the  manual  of  arms  with  an 
ease  and  regularity  unsurpassed  by  even  a  body  oi 
veteran  soldiers.  The  military  training  which 
they  had  undergone  at  home  had  remained  their 
own  secret  abroad.  The  toilingf  Coolie  had  never 
appreciated  the  importance  of  the  art  of  marching, 
countermarching,  wheeling,  etc.,  to  which  he  had 
been  trained ;  and  after  he  had  emigrated,  if  he 
bestowed  a  thought  upon  his  military  education  at 
all,  it  was  but  to  reflect  that  if  it  had  any  special 
purpose  in  the  minds  of  those  by  whom  it  was 
instituted,  that  purpose  had  no  longer  anything  to 
do  with  him.  But  he  was  pleased  at  this  time  to 
resume  the  training  of  his  )-outh.  It  reanimated 
the  associations  of  his  past  life — the  scenes  of  his 
native  land,  which  were  fast  becoming  clouded  by 
the  lapse  of  years. 

But   it  produced  another  effect   yet  more    re- 
markable.     The   general    tone    of  the    Southern 


l8o  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC 

society  toward  the  Chinese  began  suddenly  to- 
change.  The  admiration  of  the  Southern  people 
for  the  profession  of  arms  was  suddenly  extended 
to  embrace,  in  a  measure,  the  people  who  mani- 
fested this  extraordinary  aptitude  for  a  military 
education.  They  had  had  no  information  of  the 
extent  to  which  a  military  training  had  been  car- 
ried on  in  China  ;  in  fact,  no  information  that  mili- 
tary tactics  were  any  part  of  the  education  of  the 
the  Coolie.  They  had  heretofore  looked  upon 
him  as  a  being  less  human  in  any  attributes  of 
mind  than  in  form  ;  capable  of  tilling  the  soil,  and, 
generally,  of  performing  the  routine  of  manual 
labor,  but  wholly  incapable  of  understanding  or 
appreciating  the  elevated  aims,  purposes  and  en- 
joyments of  the  Caucasian — at  the  very  summit 
of  which  they  had  placed  the  cultivation  of  a  mili- 
tary spirit. 

But  the  Monofolian  had  taught  them  a  whole- 
some  lesson,  and  now  they  began  to  respect  him. 
He  taught  them — first,  that  he  was  capable  of  in- 
dependent thought  and  action,  in  voting  himself 
into  power ;  secondly,  that  he  was  capable  of  ex- 
ercising sound  and  cultivated  judgment,  as  mani- 
fested in  the  administration  of  the  governments  of 
the  States  under  his  control ;  and,  thirdly,  that  he 
had  proven  himself  their  equal  in  whatever  ca- 
pacity of  life  he  was  placed,  and  their  superior  in 
powers  of  endurance.  It  was  an  exceedingly 
nauseous  admission  to  be  compelled  to  assimilate ; 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  l8l 

but  it  was  unavoidable.  There  were  the  facts  in 
most  imposing  array.  Whatsoever  the  Mongolian 
had  undertaken,  whether  it  involved  the  play  of 
the  mental  faculties  or  the  labor  of  his  hands,  he 
had  achieved  ;  and  as  much  as  he  had  accom- 
plished must  be  subtracted  from  the  sum  of  their 
own  exclusive  qualifications  in  striking  a  balance 
between  the  races.  It  looked  as  though  the  scale 
were  about  to  tip  to  the  other  side. 

It  was  only  an  unanswerable  argument  like  the 
one  supplied  that  could  have  produced  the  effect 
that  now  became  noticeable.  The  Mongolian  had 
proved  himself  a  soldier,  a  statesman,  a  politician, 
a  philosopher  and  a  laborer.  There  was  no  longer 
a  reason  why  he  should  not  be  recognized  in  the 
brotherhood  of  men.  The  wealthy  ones  among 
them  were  no  longer  excluded  from  the  society  of 
their  white  fellow-citizens  ;  but  the  newly-con- 
ceded honors  sat,  indeed,  very  lightly  upon  their 
heads.  But  the  reaction  which  now  set  in  became 
as  marked  as  the  race  hostility  had  been  before. 

The  poor  white  man  being  the  exception  in  the 
Southern  States,  there  was  nothing  here  in  the 
way  of  suffering  and  wretchedness  that  could 
compare  with  the  distress  which  prevailed  at  the 
North.  The  white  men,  as  a  rule,  did  not  pretend 
to  labor  for  a  livelihood,  at  the  South.  In  the 
producing  districts,  the  very  nature  of  the  produc- 
tions and  their  attendant  conditions  necessitated  a 


1 82        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

species  of  labor  for  which  the  Caucasian  is  totally 
unfitted. 

The  only  white  laborers  that  might  be  thought 
to  sufficiently  maintain  their  class  representation 
at  the  South  were  confined  to  the  cities ;  but  as 
the  Southern  cities  are  devoted  more  to  trade 
than  to  manufactures,  the  numbers  of  these  were 
comparatively  few.  Hence  it  was  that  the  lower 
class  was  almost  exclusively  of  the  Coolie  element. 
Occasionally,  a  detachment  of  the  wandering 
"tramps"  from  the  Middle  States  found  its  way 
into  the  Southern  districts;  but  there  the  "tramp" 
was  regarded  with  so  much  suspicion,  and  so  con- 
tinually harassed  by  the  operation  of  the  vagrancy 
laws,  that  this  haunt  never  became  popular. 

The  growing  sentiment  of  amity  which  was  be- 
ginning to  spring  up  between  the  races,  to  which 
reference  has  been  made,  was  destined  never  to 
fructify.  Beneath  it  all  was  that  spirit  of  race 
antipathy  which,  while  it  might  be  schooled  to 
concede  toleration,  would  never  permit  the  con- 
cession to  stoop  to  practical  equality. 

Indeed,  as  we  look  upon  the  whole  picture 
which  was  now  presented,  we  can  only  wonder 
that  the  crisis  was  so  long  deferred.  That  it  was 
so  is  the  most  convincing  proof  of  the  all- pervad- 
ing patriotism  of  the  people.  They  had  confidence 
in  one  another,  and  confidence  in  their  institutions. 
They  felt  that  a  blight  of  adverse  circumstances 
had  almost  unconsciously  fastened  itself  upon  the 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        1 83 

pursuits  of  the  people  all  over  the  Union,  which  it 
would  require  the  utmost  skill  and  judgment,  on 
the  part  of  the  government,  to  remove.  They 
knew  that  the  fountain  of  their  laws  and  policy 
was  sullied  by  petty  partisan  broils,  which,  for  a 
brief  time  yet,  might  engage  that  attention  which 
was  due  to  matters  of  a  purely  public  nature ;  but 
they  never  doubted  the  readiness  of  their  fellow- 
citizens  to  throw  aside  matters  of  mere  partisan 
feeling,  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  upon  measures 
of  common  utility,  whenever  the  necessity  of  such 
action  should  be  made  manifest. 

But  the  time  for  action  had  come,  and  brought 
not  the  expected  mediation ;  and  yet  the  people 
hesitated.  They  had  forgotten  that  the  altered 
circumstances  of  the  country  might  have  effected 
a  change  in  the  powers  and  sentiments  of  the 
people,  themselves.  They  neglected  to  study  the 
signs  and  tendencies  of  the  times,  —  to  read 
the  characteristics  of  the  American  people  of  the 
period  by  comparison  with  those  that  shaped  their 
intercourse  of  half  a  century  before.  They  failed 
to  notice,  for  instance,  that  the  spirit  of  independ- 
ence had  passed  from  the  press  of  the  country, 
and  that  the  public  journals,  now,  ever  uttered  the 
sentiments  of  their  patrons  ;  that  public  corruption 
was  no  longer  assailed,  nor  public  nor  private  vil- 
lainies, in  any  sphere  of  life,  any  longer  held  up  to 
popular  execration.  They  failed  to  discover  that 
between  the   antagonistic  parties  that  ruled   the 


184  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

nation,  the  basis  of  mutual  opposition  had  changed; 
and  that  it  was  now,  no  longer,  both  contendingf 
parties  against  extravagance  and  corruption,  and 
presenting  their  several  claims  to  the  whole  people 
for  their  approbation ;  but  it  became  a  question 
of  both  parties  against  the  radical  demands  of  the 
people,  and  the  submission  of  their  several  meas- 
ures of  disguised  oppression,  for  the  citizen  to 
select  the  least  obnoxious. 

It  is  true  that  the  sin  of  the  Administration 
was,  on  this  account,  the  greater.  It,  directly, 
betrayed  the  sacred  confidence  of  the  masses. 
It  had  the  power  to  check  the  invasion  in  time. 
It  saw  the  growing  misery  of  the  people,  knew 
the  cause,  and  if  endowed  with  ordinary  foresight 
must  have  foreseen  the  final  result.  But  it  pan- 
dered to  a  mean  spirit  of  partisan  recrimination; 
pandered  to  every  influence  that  promised  either, 
or  both,  parties,  however  remotely,  to  promote  a 
partisan  aim.  It  conspired  with  the  enemies  of 
freedom,  and  blindly  entertained  at  the  national 
banquets  the  traditional  foes  of  popular  govern- 
ment, and  aided  and  promoted,  (involuntarily,  it  is 
true,  but  not,  on  that  account,  innocently,)  the 
scheme  of  subversion.  In  short,  it  ignorantly 
despoiled  the  Caucasian  race  of  its  proud  inheri- 
tance of  a  continent,  and  handed  it  over  to  an 
unsympathetic  stranger. 


CHAPTER   X. 

A  Picture  that  Became  a  Reality Further  Political  Victo- 
ries  AT  the  South South  Carolina  is  Vanquished,  and 

Forces   a  Crisis Preparations  for  War The  Whole 

South  in  Arms The  Coolies  Equal  to  the  Occasion 

Factions The  Battle  of  Charleston ^Events  that  Fol- 
lowed  The  Mongolians  Raise  the  Standard  of  China 

The   Viceroy  of  America A  War   of   Conquest The 

Struggle  Inaugurated. 

In  1854,  one  George  W.  Hall  was  convicted  in 
California  of  murder,  upon  the  testimony  of  Chi- 
nese witnesses.  His  case  was  appealed  to  the 
Supreme  Court,  which  reversed  the  judgment  of 
the  Court  below,  for  error,  in  admitting  the  testi- 
mony of  Chinamen  to  go  to  the  jury.  This  ruling 
was  quite  in  accord  with  the  statute  then  in  force; 
but,  Chief  Justice  Murray,  who  rendered  the  de- 
cision, intimated  that  even  in  a  doubtful  case — 
which  this  was  not — public  policy  would  still  re- 
quire that  the  courts  should  exclude  the  testimony 
of  Chinese  witnesses  in  cases  where  the  ripfhts  of 
white  citizens  were  involved.  In  his  decision  he 
proceeded  to  picture  a  contingent  liability  that,  in 
his  judgment,  could  not  fail  to  work  ruin  and 
disaster  to  the  Commonwealth.  The  views  ex- 
pressed in  this  opinion  were  the  views  entertained 


1 86  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

by  every  American  citizen  at  that  date;  and  the 
difference  of  sentiment  then  and  now  will  serve 
to  show  to  what  extremes  a  whole  people  may  be 
schooled  by  circumstances  and  the  lapse  of  a  few 
decades. 

The  Chief  Justice  had  no  thought  that  the  time 
should  ever  come  when  the  premises  which  he 
had  conceived  should  be  actually  presented  in  the 
United  States.  His  picture  was  intended  simply 
as  a  figure,  to  illustrate  a  principle.  But  now, 
after  the  lapse  of  less  than  half  a  century,  that 
hypothetical  condition  was  established ;  and  it 
remains  to  be  seen  whether  his  deduction  will  be 
faithful  to  his  premises,  in  the  logic  of  actual  ex- 
perience. He  says:  "The  same  rule  that  would 
admit  them  to  testify  would  admit  them  to  all  the 
equal  rights  of  citizenship,  and  we  might  soon  see 
them  at  the  polls,  in  the  jury-box,  upon  the  bench^ 
and  in  our  legislative  halls. 

"  This  is  not  a  speculation  which  exists  in  the 
excited  and  overheated  imagination  of  the  pa- 
triot and  statesman,  but  it  is  an  actual  and  present 
dano^er. 

"The  anomalous  spectacle  of  a  distinct  people, 
living  in  our  community,  recognizing  no  laws  of 
this  State  except  through  necessity,  bringing  with 
them  their  prejudices  and  national  feuds,  in  which 
they  indulge,  in  open  violation  of  law  ;  whose 
mendacity  is  proverbial  ;  a  race  of  people  whom 
Nature  has  marked  as  inferior,  and  who  are  incap- 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        1 87 

able  of  progress  or  intellectual  development  be- 
yond a  certain  point,  as  their  history  has  shown  ; 
differing  in  language,  opinions,  color,  and  physical 
conformation  ;  between  whom  and  ourselves  Na- 
ture has  placed  an  impassable  difference,  is  now 
presented,  and  for  them  is  claimed  not  only  the 
right  to  swear  away  the  life  of  a  citizen,  but  the 
further  privilege  of  participating  with  us  in  admin- 
istering the  affairs  of  our  government." 

And  all  this  had  come  to  pass,  not  only  in  Cali- 
fornia, but  in  the  East  and  South  as  well.  Some 
years  had  elapsed  since  the  governments  of  the 
States  of  Louisiana,  Florida  and  Mississippi  had 
been  transferred  to  the  hands  of  their  Mongolian 
citizens,  and  a  few  years  later  the  States  of  Ala- 
bama and  Georgia  were  subjected  to  a  similar 
control ;  and  now,  at  the  end  of  another  brief 
period  of  years,  the  ballot  had  declared  a  like 
result  in  North  and  South  Carolina. 

The  fall  of  x\labama  and  Georsfia  occasioned 
but  little  comment,  considered  in  connection  with 
the  importance  of  the  event.  The  people  had 
looked  for  this  turn  in  their  affairs,  knowing  that 
the  Mongolian  power  was  numerically  sufficient 
tor  this  purpose  whenever  it  should  be  concen- 
trated for  that  one  object. 

The  popular  discontent,  which  under  more  sud- 
den provocation  might  have  been  sufficient  to 
incite  to  acts  of  violence,  was  so  neutralized  by 


l88  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

anticipation  that  these  two  States  bowed  to  the 
decree  without  even  a  formal  protest. 

But  now  the  same  question  was  to  be  passed 
upon  by  a  State  government  of  a  different  mold. 

What  Massachusetts  has  been  amongf  the  States 
of  New  England,  South  Carolina  has  ever  been 
among  her  Southern  sisters — a  species  of  dicta- 
tress.  Her  fanaticism  and  her  patriotism  are  alike 
those  of  a  section  rather  than  merely  of  a  State  ; 
and  when  her  statesmen  have  spoken,  whether  at 
home  or  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  they  have  ut- 
tered the  sentiments  of  the  whole  Southern  peo- 
ple, rather  than  simply  those  of  the  people  of  the 
State  of  South  Carolina. 

That  she  belonged  to  the  ill-starred  Confeder- 
acy w^as  not  for  the  love  of  war,  nor  for  the  chi- 
merical advantage  of  prospective  power,  but  to 
protect  the  integrity  of  her  sovereignty  as  she 
understood  it,  and  as  it  was  interpreted  to  her  by 
her  great  statesmen — and,  by  the  same  act,  to 
help  maintain  the  integrity  of  the  Federal  com- 
pact, as  she  understood  it  to  be.  But  the  conflict 
of  arms  settled  those  questions,  and  by  an  adjudi- 
cation so  emphatic  that  it  left  not  even  the  power 
or  right  of  appeal.  South  Carolina  was  coerced 
into  compliance  under  this  determination  ;  but 
while  she  acknowledged  the  convincino-  force  of 
the  argument  employed,  she  failed  to  discover  its 
logic.  She  as  implicity  believed  in  the  right  of  a 
State  to  exercise  any  act  of  sovereignty,  not  ex- 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  1 89 

pressly  limited  by  the  Federal  Constitution,  at  that 
day  as  she  did  when  she  hurled  her  armies  against 
the  inimitable  legions  of  the  North,  half  a  century 
before. 

She  now  saw  the  government  of  her  people 
about  to  pass — and  she  believed,  forever — into 
the  hands  of  a  race  with  whom  she  believed  it 
impossible  for  the  Caucasian  to  assimilate  and 
avoid  absorbtion  and  total  annihilation.  She  be- 
lieved, too,  that  she  had  come  to  interpret  cor- 
rectly the  hidden  purpose  of  the  Chinese  invasion, 
and  that  the  time  for  action  was  at  hand. 

The  Federal  government  was,  apparently,  under 
the  spell  of  a  fascination  wrought  by  the  presence 
of  a  large  corps  of  high  functionaries  of  the  Chinese 
Empire  temporarily  resident  at  Washington. 

Viewing  these  things,  she  knew  that,  unaided, 
her  arm  was  powerless  to  check  the  tide  of  the 
Mongolian  invasion.  She  expected,  too,  that 
now,  as  in  the  past,  any  protest  by  herself  would 
receive  the  most  damaging  possible  interpreta- 
tion ;  that  her  disloyalty,  her  insubordination,  her 
spirit  of  rebellion,  would  constitute  a  theme  for 
Congressional  discussion.  Believing  all  this,  she 
reasoned  that  any  overt  act  on  her  part  tending  to 
resist  the  will  of  the  majority  in  the  matter  of  the 
installation  of  officers,  would  be  promptly  recog- 
nized at  Washington  by  the  march  of  Federal 
troops   into   her  territory.     She   understood   the 


IQO  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

temper  of  the  government,  and  reasoned  well 
from  her  premises. 

This  was  just  the  end  she  sought  to  attain,  and 
with  the  least  possible  delay.  Time  had  become 
eminently  material.  She  saw  that  eleven  States 
of  the  Union  had  passed  over  to  the  Mongolian 
citizens,  in  only  two  of  which  they  had  not  the 
absolute  control,  and  that  it  was  only  the  question 
of  a  brief  time  until  many  others  must  follow  the 
example  of  these. 

She  saw  that  the  Administration  was  politically 
narcotized,  and  quite  incapable  of  grasping  the 
situation  unless  stimulated  in  that  direction  by  the 
acts  of  the  people.  She  saw  that  even  extraor- 
dinary incentives  had  already  failed  to  rouse  to 
action,  and  she  now  proposed  to  supply  a  stimulus 
that  would  awaken  the  slumbering  energies  of  the 
nation. 

She  conjectured,  and  rightly,  that  the  masses, 
North  as  well  as  South,  were  ripe  for  revolution, 
and  that  the  strife,  when  once  precipitated,  would 
soon  regfulate  itself  as  to  its  direction. 

Accordingly,  upon  proceedings  brought  for  the 
purpose,  the  Supreme  Court  adjudged  the  election 
null  and  void.  This  result  entitled  the  present 
incumbents  to  hold  office  until  their  successors 
should  be  elected  and  should  qualify ;  but  no 
measures  were  taken  for  callinof  a  new  election. 
Proceedings  similar  to  these,  and  with  like  result, 
were  had  in  North  Carolina. 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  I9I 

No  sooner  had  the  information  of  this  proceed- 
ing reached  Washington,  and  been  confirmed,  than 
the  President  issued  his  proclamation  declaring  the 
States  of  North  and  South  Carolina  in  a  state  of 
insurrection,  and  ordering  a  suspension  of  the 
State  governments.  Military  Governors  were  ap- 
pointed, who,  wnth  ten  thousand  regular  troops — 
more  than  half  the  infantry  branch  of  the  whole 
army,  at  that  date — were  dispatched  to  restore 
order,  and  assume  the  reins  of  the  State  govern- 
ments until  the  rio^hts  of  the  various  contendine 
classes  therein  should  be  adjusted  by  Congress. 

The  Governors  so  constituted  were  clothed  with 
the  most  absolute  powers, — extending  even  to  the 
suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  the 
power  to  arrest  and  imprison  upon  suspicion. 

The  rebellious  States  now  mustered  their  militia 
to  the  aggregate  number  of  fift}'  thousand  men ; 
thirty  thousand  of  which  were  dispatched  to  await, 
at  the  frontier  of  the  State,  the  arrival  of  the  mili- 
tary Governors,  with  their  escort. 

But  the  contagion  of  revolution  soon  spread, 
and  within  thirty  days  after  the  President's  proc- 
lamation, the  Southern  States — except  only  those 
in  which  the  Mongolian  element  was  supreme  — 
were  in  open  rebellion,  and  mustering  their  forces 
for  the  impending  conflict.  This  rebellion,  how- 
ever, was  against  only  so  much  of  the  Federal 
government  as  accorded  civil  rights  to  the  Mon- 


192  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

golian ;  with  all  else  the  people  would  have  been 
satisfied. 

But,  at  this  juncture,  an  incident  occurred,  which 
complicated  the  difficulty,  and  gave  to  the  war  its 
true  character. 

In  the  States  of  Mississippi,  Florida,  Louisiana, 
Alabama,  and  Georgia,  the  Mongolian  administra- 
tions not  only  refused  to  co-operate  with  the  other 
States,  but  the  militia,  which,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, was  made  up  of  Chinese  soldiers,  had 
received  orders  to  suppress  all  riotous  or  treason- 
able gatherings,  and  to  maintain  the  supremacy 
of  the  laws. 

The  white  inhabitants  of  these  States,  havino- 
determined  to  support  their  white  fellow-citizens 
of  the  whole  South,  had  no  sooner  learned  that 
the  Carolinas  had  declared  in  favor  of  State  Sov- 
ereignty and  white  supremacy,  than  they  resolved 
to  come  to  their  support,  and  immediately  began 
to  arm  and  form  themselves  into  military  bodies. 
But,  now,  for  the  first  time,  they  were  made  to 
feel  as  well  as  to  see  the  deep  humiliation  of  their 
position.  The  Mongolian  Governors  of  those 
States,  on  the  same  day,  issued  their  proclama- 
tions, couched  in  the  same  language,  refusing  to 
aid,  counsel,  or  support  the  revolutionary  party, 
commanding  all  armed  bodies  of  men  to  disperse, 
and  instructing  the  militia  to  preserve  order;  and 
to  that  end  to  use  whatever  force  might  be  nec- 
essary. 


LAST   DAYS   OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  1 93 

The  revolutionary  party  failing  to  take  notice 
of  the  proclamations,  the  militia,  to  the  number 
of  two  hundred  thousand  men,  in  the  five  States 
named,  were  called  out  and  immediately  pro- 
ceeded to  the  execution  of  their  orders.  This  so 
incensed  the  whites  that  they  immediately  pro- 
ceeded to  organize  the  white  militia,  and  repelled 
the  Mongolian,  or  State  militia,  when,  in  a  few 
instances,  the  latter  presumed  to  execute  their 
orders.  Thus  it  was  that  the  race  struo-^le  beofan; 
a  war  of  races,  rather  than  a  revolution,  ensued. 

Upon  the  arrival  at  the  boundary  of  North 
Carolina  of  the  military  Governors  of  the  two 
Carolinas  and  their  warlike  escort,  they  found 
waiting,  to  receive  them,  a  militia  force  of  twenty 
thousand  men.  This  army,  the  Federal  General 
did  not  deem  it  prudent  to  engage;  and  so,  going 
into  camp,  beyond  the  border,  he  telegraphed  to 
Washington  for  further  instructions. 

While  matters  were  in  this  anomalous  condition 
between  the  State  and  Federal  authorities,  the 
Mongolians  throughout  the  two  Carolinas  were 
actively  at  work  arming,  and  forming  themselves 
into  military  companies,  under  the  instructions  of 
emissaries  from  the  Imperial  deputation  at  Wash- 
ington. 

Cat-like,  in  all  their  hostile  movements,  in  this 
one  they  excelled  even  themselves,  in  their  pre- 
vious  adventures;    and,   without  attracting    very 

general    observation,    had    succeeded    in    placing 
13 


194  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

themselves  in  a  most  dangerously  hostile  attitude 
in  all  parts  of  these  States.  They  proceeded,  in 
great  numbers,  to  the  Capitals  of  both  States 
during  the  last  days  of  the  term  of  office  of  the 
present  incumbents;  and,  on  the  first  day  of  the 
new  term  the  officers  elect,  at  the  head  of  over- 
whelming forces  of  their  countrymen,  seized  the 
archives  of  the  State  governments,  the  public 
offices  and  public  buildings,  and  formally  installed 
the  Mongolian  officers  elect. 

On  the  same  day,  the  new  Governors  issued 
their  proclamations,  similar  in  most  respects  to 
those  issued  by  the  Mongolian  Governors  of  the 
five  States  already  mentioned,  declaring  martial 
law  and  calling  upon  all  good  citizens  to  arm  and 
report  for  immediate  service  to  their  respective 
commanders,  whom  they  designated,  and  who 
were  appointed  the  officers  of  the  new  militia. 
The  white  militia  was  declared  to  be  an  unlawful 
and  riotous  assemblage,  and  commanded  to  dis- 
perse. 

Columbia,  S.  C,  was  soon  invested  by  fifty 
thousand  Mongolian  troops,  and  these  were  now 
constituted  the  State  militia,  while  everywhere 
throughout  the  State  the  Coolies  were  arming, 
and  assembling  at  designated  points. 

The  deposed  Governor  of  South  Carolina, 
having  escaped  from  the  Capital,  fled  to  Charles- 
ton, at  which  point  he  proceeded  to  re-establish 
the  State  government.     This  city   was  strongly 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  1 95 

garrisoned  by  the  white  militia.  From  this  posi- 
tion he  issued  his  proclamation,  in  effect,  that  one 
hundred  thousand  Asiatic  citizens  of  the  State  of 
South  Carolina  were  now  in  open  rebellion  against 
the  State  government,  and  commanding  the  militia 
to  assemble,  to  the  number  of  fifty  thousand  men, 
forthwith,  and  take  instructions  for  the  promotion 
of  the  public  safety  and  the  restoration  of  public 
order. 

The  Mongolian  Governors  of  the  Carolinas, 
resolved  not  to  be  outdone  in  the  matter  of 
strategy,  convened  their  Legislatures,  and  under 
their  auspices,  a  call  was  made  upon  the  President 
for  Federal  aid  to  assist  the  State  authority  in 
suppressing  the  white  rebellion.  As  yet,  the 
Federal  government  was  disposed  to  co-operate 
with  the  Mongolian  faction;  and  perceiving  that 
the  latter  was  in  the  possession  of  the  State 
archives  and  the  public  buildings,  and  hence,  that 
the  will  of  the  majority,  as  expressed  at  the  late 
elections,  was  vindicated,  in  both  States,  recalled 
the  military  Governors  heretofore  appointed — but 
upon  whom,  peradventure,  the  honors  never  hap- 
pened to  rest — and  instructed  the  troops  which 
had  been  placed  at  their  disposal,  to  proceed  in 
equal  detachments  to  the  respective  Capitals  of  the 
rebellious  States,  and,  by  acting  in  concert  with 
the  constitutional  Governors,  to  maintain  the  su- 
premacy of  the  laws  of  the  United  States  and  the 
constitutional  rights  of  all  the  citizens  thereof. 


196        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

This  recoofnition  of  the  Chinese  taction  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  settled  the  last 
pretensions  of  the  deposed  Governors  of  these 
States  to  re-establish  themselv^es  in  that  capacity ; 
but  it  by  no  means  tranquilized  the  dissensions 
among  the  people. 

The  whole  South  was  in  open  insurrection 
against  the  Chinese  rule  ;  and  some  of  the  New 
England  States  were  nearly  so.  The  Federal 
government  feeling  itself,  as  it  believed,  called 
upon  to  maintain  the  integrit}'  of  the  Constitution 
as  well  as  of  the  treaty  stipulations,  which  it  had 
contracted,  and  more  or  less  influenced  by  the 
Imperial  delegation  at  Washington,  was  disposed 
to  support  the  claims  of  the  r^Iongolians. 

The  partisan  broils  in  the  United  States  Con- 
gress were  now,  for  the  hrst  time  in  half  a 
century,  suspended,  and  the  representatives  of  the 
people  were  compelled  to  grapple  with  a  revolu- 
tion which  their  own  folly  and  weakness  had  fos- 
tered and  encouraged. 

Three  conflicting  sentiments,  or  class  interests, 
were  now  before  the  people,  supported,  in  each 
instance,  by  an  armed  soldiery,  nerved  for  a 
struggle,  from  which  all  could  not  reasonabl\- 
hope  to  emerge  with  victory.  There  must  be 
submission  from  some  two  to  the  other,  and  it 
was  clearly  evident  from  the  bitter,  manifest  hos- 
tility that  characterized  the  principal  actors,  that 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  1 97 

the  pending  differences  were  not  to  be  settled  by 
compromise. 

The  first  of  these  was  represented  by  the  white 
inhabitants  of  the  South,  about  three-fourths  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  States  of  New  England,  and  a 
large  following  elsewhere  throughout  the  Middle 
and  Western  States.  This  embraced  more  than 
three-fourths  of  the  white  population  of  the  United 
States.  The  second  was  the  Asiatic  element, 
having  a  representation  of  about  six  millions  of 
men,  in  the  absolute  control  of  the  whole  Pacific 
Coast  States,  a  heavy  preponderance  in  the 
Southern  States,  and  largely  represented  else- 
where throughout  the  Union.  The  third,  and 
last,  was  the  Federal  government,  with  a  follow- 
ing that  might  be  very  powerful  to  purchase  a 
peace,  if  such  were  obtainable  for  gold,  but  such, 
also,  as  has  never  conquered  a  peace  in  the  whole 
history  of  the  world. 

The  first  demanded  the  expulsion  of  the  Asiatics 
from  America,  with  no  other  condition  than  a  lim- 
itation of  the  time  within  which  their  embarkation 
should  begin,  and  the  rate  at  which  it  should  be 
conducted.  A  short  time  before,  they  would  have 
been  satisfied  to  retain  the  complement  now  in 
the  country,  provided  they  should  be  deprived 
of  the  right  of  citizenship ;  but  now,  that  they  felt 
the  strength  of  their  cause,  they  became  more 
•exacting,  and  clamored  for  total  extirpation. 

The   second  element  demanded  the  strict  ob- 


198  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

servance.  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  of  their 
treaty  stipulations  with  the  Emperor  of  China,  as 
also  of  the  Act  of  Congress  entitled  "An  Act  to 
amend  the  naturalization  laws  of  the  United  States, 
and  for  other  purposes,"  under  which  they  were 
clothed  with  the  prerogative  of  citizenship ;  and 
they  further  demanded  the  right  to  the  full  and 
free  enjoyment  of  whatsoever  privileges  the  exer- 
cise of  the  prerogative  of  citizenship  might  confer. 

In  obedience  to  the  proclamation  of  the  deposed 
Governor  of  South  Carolina,  the  white  militia  rap- 
idly assembled  at  Charleston,  which  was  now 
constituted  the  basis  of  their  operations. 

Meanwhile,  the  Federal  troops,  to  the  number 
of  five  thousand  men,  reached  Columbia,  where 
they  found  fifty  thousand  Asiatics  under  arms, 
and  as  many  more  awaiting  the  issuance  of  arms 
and  equipments.  With  this  force,  the  Mongolian 
Governor  declared  his  purpose  to  crush  the  rebel- 
lion. The  officer  in  command  of  the  regular 
troops,  in  obedience  to  his  orders,  united  his  force 
with  the  State  militia,  and,  after  a  few  days  spent 
in  preparation,  an  army  of  sixty  thousand  men,, 
consisting  of  fifty-five  thousand  Mongolian  or 
State  militia,  and  five  thousand  Federal  soldiers,, 
received  orders  to  march  against  the  rioters 
assembled  at  Charleston.  The  white  militia,  to 
the  number  of  twenty  thousand  men,  upon 
receivine  information  that  the  combined  State 
and  Federal  troops  were  marching  against  them. 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  I99 

advanced  without  the  city,  and  taking  up  a  favor- 
able position,  awaited  their  arrival. 

The  two  armies  were  soon  face  to  face,  within 
a  few  miles  of  Charleston.  The  commander  of  the 
Federal  detachment,  as  ex  officio  commander  of 
the  expedition,  immediately  despatched  his  order 
to  the  white  militia  to  disperse,  and  to  deliver  up 
the  ex- Governor  and  the  commander  of  the 
rioters.  To  this  order  and  demand  the  latter 
replied  by  sending  back  the  messenger,  instructed 
to  inform  his  commander  that  he  would  disband 
his  forces  "after  the  last  Chinaman  in  America 
should  be  buried,  or  embarked  for  China  or ." 

The  government  forces  immediately  formed  in 
line  of  battle,  with  the  regular  troops  on  the 
extreme  right,  and  at  some  distance  from  the 
main  line  of  the  State  forces.  At  the  extreme 
left,  and  to  the  rear,  the  commander  of  the  Mon- 
golian militia  took  his  position,  with  a  reserve 
often  thousand  men.  The  main  body  of  the  State 
forces  moved  forward  to  the  attack. 

Neither  army  had  provided  itself  with  cannon — 
the  white  militia,  because  they  had  convinced  them- 
selves that  an  army  of  Chinamen  could  not  stand 
more  than  a  single  volley  of  musketry  ;  and  the 
Asiatics,  because  they  did  not  expect  any  decided 
resistance.  But  both  armies  were  quickly  unde- 
ceived. 

The  first  volley  came  from  the  advance  line 
of  the  white    militia,  which  proved   exceedingly 


200  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

destructive ;  but  the  State  forces,  reserving  their 
fire,  simply  closed  up  their  ranks  and  advanced  at 
a.  double-quick  upon  the  enemy. 

At  this  point,  the  regulars  were  ordered  forward 
to  attack  the  white  militia  on  their  left ;  but,  with 
one  accord,  both  officers  and  men  refused  to  fire 
upon  their  countrymen. 

The  main  column  of  the  Asiatics  now  swept 
down  and  concentrated  their  fire  upon  the  centre 
of  the  enemy,  broke  through  their  ranks,  and 
succeeded  in  turning  both  wings  of  the  army. 
Following  up  their  advantage,  they  were  merci- 
lessly slaughtering  the  now  thoroughly  disordered 
masses  of  the  whites ;  but  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
regular  troops,  no  longer  able  to  brook  the  scene 
before  them,  broke  through  the  restraint  of  those 
of  their  officers  who  sought  to  prevent  them,  and 
engaged  the  Asiatics  in  the  rear. 

The  commander  of  the  State  militia,  taking  in 
the  whole  situation,  at  a  glance,  ordered  his  re- 
serve forward  to  cut  off  the  regulars.  By  a  rapid 
movement  the  reserve  gained  a  position  to  the 
left  and  a  little  to  the  rear  of  that  which  the  regu- 
lars had  advanced,  and  poured  a  deadly,  oblique 
fire  into  their  lines.  Before  the  regular  troop  had 
recovered  from  the  confusion  that  was  necessarily 
occasioned,  a  strong  detachment  of  the  attacking 
column  in  front,  which  had  formed  to  resist  their 
further  advance,  taking  advantage  of  the  confu- 
sion, rushed  in  a  solid  column  into  their  shattered 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  20I 

ranks,  and  by  the  co-operation  of  the  reserve, 
which  prevented  their  retreat,  killed  or  captured 
the  entire  detachment. 

At  the  principal  point  of  conflict,  the  Asiatics 
were  not  less  successful.  The  white  militia  fought 
with  the  most  determined  ferocity.  They  rallied 
on  either  side,  and  made  the  most  desperate  and 
repeated  efforts  to  effect  a  junction  of  the  two 
wings  of  their  army;  but  the  main  body  of  the 
State  troops  was  thrown  between,  and  the  efforts 
were  fruitless.  This  division,  of  course,  prevented 
all  possible  concert  of  action,  and  every  stand 
taken,  or  made,  by  the  struggling  divisions  was 
swept  down  before  the  impetuous  charge  and 
overwhelming  numbers  of  the  Asiatics.  The 
slaughter  soon  became  general. 

The  white  militia,  overpowered  by  superior 
numbers  and  opposed  by  the  most  consummate 
military  skill,  fought  to  the  last,  proposing  no 
terms  of  capitulation  and  refusing  to  accept  any 
terms  of  surrender,  and  were  shot  down  or  bayo- 
neted in  great  numbers;  so  that  out  of  a  force  of 
twenty  thousand  men  who  marched  out  of  Charles- 
ton, twenty-four  hours  before,  less  than  seven 
thousand  survived.  The  detachment  of  Federal 
troops  was  not  more  fortunate,  for  it  seems  to 
have  suffered  complete  annihilation. 

The  State  militia,  having  disposed  of  their 
wounded  and  buried  their  dead,  marched  into 
Charleston   and  demanded   the   surrender  of  the 


202  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

late  Governor;  but  upon  the  refusal  of  the  city 
authorities  to  interest  themselves  in  procuring  his 
surrender,  the  immediate  arrest  of  the  Mayor  and 
City  Marshal  was  ordered,  and  their  removal,  to 
the  Capital,  for  imprisonment.  While  the  prelim- 
inaries of  this  command  were  beingf  executed,  the 
ex-Governor  presented  himself  and  offered  to 
surrender,  upon  which  occurrence  the  city  officers 
were  released.  The  victorious  militia  then  took 
up  its  line  of  march  for  the  Capital,  leaving  a  gar- 
rison of  fifteen  thousand  men,  to  prevent  any 
further  uprising  at  Charleston;  and  leaving  the 
city  to  dispose  of  the  dead  and  wounded  of  the 
white  troops  as  she  might  elect. 

The  first  orreat  battle  of  the  revolution  had 
been  fouofht,  and  the  result  was  most  alarminof 
and  unexpected.  At  least,  eighteen  thousand 
white  American  citizens  had  been  ruthlesssly  mas- 
sacred. 

Whatever  might  have  been  the  provocation, 
there  was  found  no  one  to  justify  this  terrible 
sacrifice  of  life — particularly  that  the  victims  were 
native  born  Americans,  and  their  adversaries  a 
race  alien  alike  to  every  sentiment  and  associa- 
tion of  American  life. 

The  voice  of  the  people  rang  from  every  quar- 
ter of  the  Union,  demandincr  an  investiiration  of 
the  Charleston  massacre.  Reprisals  upon  the 
Chinese  inhabitants  of  cities  far  removed  from  the 
scene  of  the  late  engagement  grew,  daily,  more 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  2O3 

frequent,  until  the  latter  were  roused  to  oro-anize 
for  defense  in  all  parts  of  the  Union. 

The  pressure  of  public  opinion  at  length  com- 
pelled Congress  to  adopt  speedy  measures  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  some  basis  upon  which  to 
prosecute  any  violation  of  law  or  order  that  might 
be  properly  authenticated  in  connection  with  the 
Charleston  tragedy. 

A  committee  of  Congress  was  accordingly  ap- 
pointed, and  in  due  time  proceeded  to  Columbia, 
S.  C.  After  some  weeks  spent  in  examination 
and  investigation  of  the  massacre,  the  committee 
became  satisfied  of  the  atrocity  of  the  massacre, 
and  the  unnecessary  extent  to  which  it  had  been 
prosecuted,  and  recommended  the  arrest  of  the 
Governor  and  the  commander  of  the  State  militia 
of  South  Carolina. 

No  sooner  had  the  nature  of  this  recommenda- 
tion been  communicated  to  the  latter,  than  they 
immediately  caused  the  committee  and  their  at- 
tendants, as  they  were  about  to  return  to  Washing- 
ton, to  be  seized  and  thrown  into  prison,  remind- 
ing them,  as  they  did  so,  that  martial  law  was  in  force 
in  South  Carolina.  The  officer  who  shordy  after- 
wards presented  himself,  armed  with  a  warrant,  to 
the  commander  of  the  militia,  and  informed  him  of 
his  arrest,  was  yet  more  grossly  outraged,  by  hav- 
ing his  clothes  stripped  from  his  back,  and,  in  that 
condition,  being  flogged,  at  the  order  of  the  com- 
mander, after  which  he  was  permitted  to  depart. 


204  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

The  conflict,  in  its  true  character,  was  now  fairly 
beo^un.  Throuo^hout  the  whole  of  the  South  the 
Chinese  arose  simultaneously,  seized  the  torts  and 
arsenals,  confiscated  all  private  property  readily 
convertible  into  army  supplies,  as  well  as  all  the 
funds  of  National,  State  and  private  banks.  In 
the  opposition  which  they  encountered,  they  in- 
dulged a  most  cruel  and  savage  rapacity,  by  the 
indiscriminate  slauo-hter  of  the  white  inhabitants  of 
whatsoever  age  or  sex.  They  openly  disavowed 
their  allegiance  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States ;  and,  as  if  to  remove  the  last  suspicion  of 
their  purpose  from  the  minds  of  the  people,  they 
raised  the  standard  of  China  to  every  eminence, 
whence  they  dragged  down   the  national  banner. 

The  whole  territory  south  of  the  thirty-seventh 
parallel  of  latitude  was  declared  to  be  a  province 
of  the  Chinese  empire.  State  subdivisions  were 
no  longer  to  be  recognized.  Columbia,  South 
Carolina,  was  constituted  the  seat  of  the  new  gov- 
ernment, and  a  Mandarin  of  high  rank  was  installed 
as  the  Viceroy  of  America,  under  the  Emperor  of 
China. 

So  thoroughly  had  every  element  of  this  gigan- 
tic conspiracy  rehearsed  its  part,  and  so  perfect 
the  subordination  of  each  to  its  immediate  super- 
ior, that  the  mere  formal  feature  of  the  subversion 
of  the  South  was  accomplished  without  the  slight- 
est clash  of  authority  or  conflict  of  interest  among 
the  Mongolians,  and  without  the  presence  of  those 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        2O5 

perilous  misunderstandings  which  so  often  prove 
fatal  to  the  execution  of  the  best  laid  schemes. 

Yet,  the  practical  execution  of  this  scheme,  so 
admirably  planned,  was  by  no  means  unattended 
by  difficulties.  The  American  population  of  the 
South  imm^ediately  organized  for  resistance.  Form- 
ing themselves  into  companies,  with  such  arms  as. 
they  were  enabled  to  procure  they  defended  with 
the  utmost  heroic  valor  every  point  of  attack. 
But  being  vastly  outnumbered,  poorly  armed,  and 
incumbered  with  the  defence,  or  protection,  of  their 
women  and  children,  their  opposition  was  quickly 
overcome,  themselves  ruthlessly  slaughtered,  their 
children  left  homeless,  to  perish  of  destitution,  and 
their  wives  and  daughters  carried  off  by  the  sol- 
diery. Thus,  the  occupation  of  the  whole  South 
was  speedily  effected. 

Upon  receipt  of  the  information  at  Washington 
that  the  whole  Consfressional  Committee  had  been 
thrown  into  prison  by  the  Governor  of  South 
Carolina,  and  the  almost  simultaneous  report  to 
the  effect  that  the  flag  of  the  Chinese  Empire  was 
floating  from  all  the  public  buildings  and  the  forti- 
fications of  the  South,  the  proclamation  of  the 
President  was  issued,  calling  out  five  hundred 
thousand  men  for  one  hundred  days'  service. 

This  was  the  first  popular  measure  adopted  by 
the  government  in  the  period  of  twenty  years. 
The  people  began  to  think  that  the  vigor  of  bet- 
ter days  was  returning  to  bless  the  nation  with 


205        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

contentment  and  equality  again.  Their  patriotism 
was  aroused  at  the  prospect,  and  they  pressed  for- 
ward at  the  call  of  duty. 

Recruiting  offices,  wherever  established,  were 
thronged  with  applicants,  so  that  within  a  few 
weeks  an  immense  army  of  brave,  but  inexperi- 
enced and  untrained  soldiers,  was  under  arms  and 
distributed  to  drive  back  the  swarm  of  Asiatics 
which  was  fast  pouring  into  the  Middle  States  and 
sweeping  down  every  opposition. 

For  the  first  time,  it  now  began  to  dawn  upon 
the  nation  at  large,  that  the  aim  of  the  Asiatics 
was,  indeed,  conquest ;  and  that,  already,  the 
country  was  in  imminent  danger.  Additional  calls 
for  troops  were  rapidly  made,  until  the  whole 
Republic  had  assumed  the  character  of  a  vast 
encampment. 

The  distribution  of  the  hostile  elements  was 
particularly  unfavorable  to  the  American  troops. 
It  was  not  the  relation  of  the  people  to  an  invad- 
ing army,  confined  to  territorial  limits.  The  hos- 
tile forces  were  intreminorled  throuo-hout  the  entire 
country,  save  only  in  those  States  lying  south  of 
the  northern  boundary  line  of  North  Carolina  and 
Tennessee,  and  east  of  the  Mississippi  River, 
which  was  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  Chinese 
before  an  American  army  could  be  organized;  and 
the  whole  white  population  of  which,  that  had  es- 
caped the  massacre  of  the  occupation,  were  either 
refugees,  or  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  20/ 

In  the  Middle  and  Western  States,  the  Ameri- 
cans were  largely  in  the  majority.  The  Asiatics, 
in  these  districts,  after  a  series  of  engagements,  in 
which  they  were  opposed  by  equal  numbers,  were 
compelled  to  sue  for  terms,  which  were  granted. 
Notwithstanding  their  high  military  training,  they 
were  totally  unable  to  withstand  the  incomparable 
bravery  and  matchless  prowess  of  the  American 
troops.  But  their  compact  military  organizations 
fouofht  with  stubborn  couragfe  and  ereat  judsfnient, 
so  that  the  victories  gained  were  dearly  bought. 
After  a  struggle  of  less  than  a  3'ear  in  duration, 
the  strength  of  the  American  arms  prevailed 
throughout  the  Middle  and  Western  States;  and 
three  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  Asiatics,  in 
several  detachments,  surrendered  themselves  as 
prisoners  of  war. 

While  these  States  had  thus  successfully  prose- 
cuted their  local  struggle,  the  contest  in  New 
England  had  assumed  a  most  gloomy  aspect. 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and 
Rhode  Island  were  virtually  conquered  by  the 
Asiatics,  some  of  their  chief  cities  in  ashes,  their 
fortifications  dismantled,  and  a  victorious  army 
of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men  prepar- 
ing to  march  into  Vermont  and  New  York, 

The  forces,  at  this  period,  under  arms,  pre- 
sented, in  point  of  magnitude,  the  most  imposing 
military  establishment  that  the  world  has  ever 
witnessed;    and    perhaps    no    such    spectacle   will 


208  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

ever  again  be  presented  while  time  shall  endure. 
The  main  body  of  the  American  army,  to  the 
number  of  a  million  and  a  half  of  men,  stretched 
east  from  the  mouth  of  Chesapeake  Bay  to  the 
confluence  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers. 
To  the  northward  of  this  was  an  additional  force 
of  nearly  a  million  of  men,  who  were  placed  to 
Cfuard  the  West  from  the  Pacific  Coast  invasion, 
and  the  Middle  States  from  New  England. 

In  front  of  the  main  body  of  the  Americans  was 
the  great  bulk  of  the  Mongolian  army,  numbering, 
it  was  estimated,  about  three  and  a  half  millions 
of  armed  men,  while  their  force  in  New  Enofland 
consisted  of  an  army  of  occupation  to  the  number 
of  five  hundred  thousand  men,  besides  an  aQ-crres- 
sive  force  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand. 
Toward  the  West,  the  Pacific  States  were  sus- 
taining a  large  force,  and  constantly  receiving 
recruits. 

As  we  look  back,  to-day,  upon  the  picture  pre- 
sented at  this  stage  of  the  conflict,  we  are  enabled 
to  see,  more  clearly  than  could  the  actors  in  this 
terrible  drama,  how  desperate  was  the  cause  of 
liberty.  Of  the  Americans,  every  available  sol- 
dier was  under  arms,  while  the  aged,  the  women 
and  children  were  left,  of  necessity,  to  struggle 
for  subsistence  and  sustain  an  army  of  non-com- 
battant  refugees  from  the  South  and  from  New 
Eno-land,  besides. 

Upon  three  sides,  great  armies  were  pressing 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  2O9 

forward,  determined  to  occupy  this  retreat  of  the 
nation's  wards  and  refugees.  The  fathers,  hus- 
bands and  brothers  of  these,  under  arms,  were 
still  a  living  wall  between  those  helpless  millions 
and  the  swarmino;  horde  that  souo;ht  to  invade 
their  retreat;  but  the  terrible  apprehension  would 
not  be  assuaged,  that  those  brave  defenders  might 
be  swept  away,  at  any  moment,  before  the  march 
of  irresistible  numbers. 

The  very  life  of  the  nation  was  in  deadly  peril. 
Human  freedom  was  indeed  struororling^  in  the 
clutch  of  the  destroyer.  The  country  felt  its  dan- 
ger, saw  the  gathering  shadows  of  doom,  and 
called  to  its  kindred  beyond  the  Atlantic  to  hasten 
to  its  aid. 
14 


CHAPTER   XI. 

Eqotpment  of  the  Hostile  ForvCEs Trans-Pacific  Co-opera- 
tion  Arrival  of  the  Chinese  Fleet Naval  Engage- 
ment  Importation  of  Troops  and  Munitions  of   War 

The  Atlantic  Coast Conquest  of  the  Pacific  States 

Prevailing   Laws,    Customs   and   Institutions  Abolished 

The  Imperial  Edict. 

The  act  of  raising  the  Imperial  standard  of 
China,  upon  the  soil  of  America,  was,  by  pre-ar- 
rangement,  fixed  to  mark  the  inauguration  of  an 
aggressive  war  by  the  Asiatics.  At  this  signal, 
the  toiling  millions  of  the  Southern  States  were 
hurried  from  their  various  humble  and  peaceful 
occupations,  and,  having  arms  placed  in  their 
hands,  were  marched,  at  once,  to  take  possession 
of  fortifications  and  all  depositories  of  military 
stores.  Owing  to  the  almost  entire  absence  of 
United  States  troops,  this  they  were  enabled  to 
do  against  only  such  opposition  as  a  poorly-armed 
people,  infinitely  inferior  to  themselves  in  num- 
bers, and  without  discipline,  were  able  to  offer. 

The  Chinese  were  in  possession  of  the  State 
arms  of  most  of  the  States  which  they  sought  to 
occupy,  added  to  which,  they  had  immense  accu- 
mulations of  arms  and  munitions  of  war  that  had 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  211 

been  forwarded  from  the  Pacific  Coast  during  sev- 
eral years,  consigned  to  the  Governors  of  Louisi- 
ana, Florida  and  Mississippi. 

Ere  yet  the  first  soldier  had  been  recruited 
under  the  President's  proclamation,  there  was  an 
army  of  more  than  a  million  Mongolians  ready 
for  the  field,  throughout  the  Southern  States. 
Nor  did  they  stop  to  estimate  the  number  of  sol- 
diers that  might  be  required  to  meet  the  contin- 
gencies likely  to  arise.  They  had  resolved  to 
crush  down  every  opposition  by  the  weight  of 
overwhelming  numbers.  They  had,  practically, 
an  inexhaustible  source  from  which  to  draw  their 
supplies;  and  they  proceeded  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  advantage  thus  afforded,  by  transporting 
the  armed  millions  of  China  to  our  shores. 

No  sooner  had  the  information  been  flashed  to 
China,  that  her  faithful  subjects  had  unfurled  the 
flag  of  empire  over  the  most  fertile  and  product- 
ive regions  of  the  New  World,  than  she  called 
into  active  service  all  the  wonderful  energies  of 
her  empire,  to  carry  to  a  successful  issue  the 
work  so  daringly  begun. 

A  fleet  of  transports,  loaded  with  troops  and 
munitions  of  war,  and  flanked  by  a  dozen  power- 
ful ironclads,  was  immediately  despatched  to  San 
Francisco,  the  former  to  return  immediately,  with- 
out cargo,  with  sufficient  escort  to  secure  their 
safety,  and  leaving  the  remaining  war  vessels  to 
await  orders  from  the  Viceroy. 


212  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

At  the  Sandwich  Islands,  the  expedition  learned 
that  a  fleet  of  American  vessels  of  war  had  block- 
aded the  harbor  of  San  Francisco.  Thinking  it 
important  to  avoid  the  risk  of  an  engagement 
that  might  endanger  the  object  of  the  expedition, 
the  commander  altered  his  course  and  reached 
San  Diego,  there  discharged  his  troops  and  cargo ; 
whence  half  a  million  of  the  best  troops  of  the 
Chinese  empire  were  transferred  by  rail  to  rein- 
force the  main  army.  The  transports  were  then 
escorted  out  to  sea  and  placed  in  charge  ot  two 
war  vessels,  to  proceed  to  China,  while  the  re- 
maining vessels,  excepting  only  three,  which  were 
ordered  to  cruise  off  the  bay  of  San  Diego, 
headed  for  San  Francisco. 

The  American  squadron  in  these  waters  con- 
sisted of  two  iron-clad  frigates  and  two  gun-boats. 
The  enemy  having  secured  the  entry  to  the  har- 
bor by  torpedoes,  these  vessels  were  unable  to 
effect  an  entrance,  and  were  compelled  to  cruise 
outside  the  harbor,  in  maintaining  the  blockade. 

Seven  large  ironclads,  floating  the  flag  of  the 
Chinese  empire,  were  at  length  discovered  by  the 
Americans,  who  immediately  cleared  for  action 
Affecting  to  despise  the  apparentl)'  insignificant 
gun-boats,  the  enemy,  as  they  drew  near,  deliv- 
ered their  whole  fire  against  the  frigates,  which  the 
latter  returned  with  energy,  for  a  brief  time,  but 
were  soon  dismantled  and  unmanageable.  But 
the  gun-boats,  meanwhile,  steamed  into  the  very 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  213 

midst  of  the  Asiatic  fleet,  dealing  their  terrible 
blows  under  the  guns  of  the  enemy.  The  de- 
struction of  the  latter's  vessels  seemed  complete. 
Five  were  sunk  and  two  so  seriously  damaged 
that  they  struck  their  colors  and  surrendered.  An 
explosion  occurring  on  board  one  of  the  gun- 
boats, she  went  to  the  bottom,  but  not  until  after 
the  victory  was  complete.  The  remaining  boat 
sustained  but  trifling  injury. 

By  this  time  the  demolition  of  both  the  Ameri- 
can frigates  was  complete,  and  a  gale  setting  in, 
they  were  driven  helplessly  against  the  shore  and 
became  a  total  wreck. 

News  of  the  disaster  to  the  Chinese  fleet  was 
quickly  despatched  to  San  Diego,  whereupon  the 
three  vessels  cruisino-  there  headed  at  once  for  the 
bay  of  San  F"rancisco.  The  commander,  having 
been  duly  apprised  of  the  formidable  nature  of  the 
remaining  vessel  of  the  blockade,  and  of  its  mode 
of  assault,  quickly  determined  upon  a  plan  of 
attack  which  he  soon  afterwards  carried  to  a  suc- 
cessful prosecution.  Keeping  beyond  the  reach 
of  her  guns,  he  brought  his  heaviest  pieces  to 
bear  upon  the  gun-boat,  and  soon  destroyed  her 
turret  and  dismounted  her  turret  gun.  The  com- 
mander of  the  latter  now  saw  that  his  fate  was 
sealed,  and  concluded  to  employ  what  time  was 
still  left  him  in  completing  the  destruction  of  the 
previous  engagement.  The  two  iron-clads  that 
had  surrendered  and  which  he  had  hoped  to  util- 


2  14  LAST   DAYS    OF   THE    REPUBLIC. 

ize,  were  now  speedily  rammed  and  sunk.  But 
the  condition  of  the  gun-boat  becoming  more  des- 
perate, by  the  increased  fury  of  the  attack,  per- 
haps, suggested  its  destruction  to  prevent  it  from 
falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  In  any 
event,  whether  by  accident  or  design,  she  ex- 
ploded her  magazine  and  disappeared  beneath  the 
waves. 

This  engagement  was  decisive  of  the  fate  of  the 
American  navy  on  the  Pacific.  A  powerful  fleet 
soon  afterwards  arrived  from  China,  which  was 
appointed  to  guard  the  whole  coast,  from  British 
Columbia  to  the  Isthmus. 

The  direct  importation  of  troops  and  munitions 
of  war  from  China  was  now  continued  without  in- 
terruption or  fear  of  molestation  ;  and  within  a 
year  from  the  date  of  this  engagement  more  than 
a  million  of  Chinese,  soldiers  were  landed  upon 
our  shores. 

Upon  the  Atlantic,  however,  the  American  navy 
continued  supreme,  and,  for  a  time,  seriously  em- 
barrassed the  proceedings  of  the  enemy  in  the 
coast  cities.  It  soon  became  apparent  to  the 
Chinese  that  without  a  strongf  naval  force  on  the 
Atlantic  nothing  could  be  done  to  protect  the 
coast  from  the  assaults  of  the  American  vessels. 
The  shore  batteries  could  do  but  little,  and  that 
little  purely  defensive. 

But,  to  their  purpose,  the  blockade  of  every 
harbor  of  the  Atlantic  was,  after  all,  a  matter  of 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  215 

secondary  importance.  Unable  to  protect  them, 
they  resolved  to  leave  the  coast  cities  to  their 
fate  for  the  present,  leaving  sufficient  force,  how- 
ever, to  cut  off  any  troops  that  might  be  landed 
at  such  of  the  southern  ports  as  they  had  not 
secured  by  torpedoes  and  other  explosives  ;  and, 
in  the  meantime,  to  devote  their  energies  to  the 
vigorous  prosecution  of  the  campaign  at  the  in- 
terior. Their  communication  with  the  Pacific  was 
uninterrupted.  A  line  of  railroad,  connecting  with 
all  the  principal  ports  of  the  Pacific,  and  having  its 
eastern  terminus  at  New  Orleans,  was  entirely 
under  their  control  ;  and  as  this  was  the  avenue 
by  which  they  obtained  supplies,  it  was  necessarily 
a  matter  of  but  little  moment  to  the  success  of 
their  cause  whether  the  Atlantic  ports  were  free 
or  otherwise. 

The  Pacific  States  having  been  the  first  in 
which  the  Chinese  citizens  succeeded  in  obtaining 
control  of  the  public  affairs,  their  condition  was,  of 
course,  eminently  favorable  for  successful  rebel- 
lion. There  were  no  Federal  troops  to  interfere 
with  the  prosecution  of  their  interested  motives, 
and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  judicial  ol^ces, 
there  was  not  at  the  opening  of  the  revolution, 
between  Washington  Territory  and  Mexico,  a 
public  position  presided  over  by  a  native  born 
American.  Hence  it  was,  that  at  the  first  note  of 
the  rebellion  these  States  quietly  transferred  their 
allegiance  to  the   Chinese  empire,  by  deliberately 


2l6  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

hauling  down  the  American  flag  and  raising  in  its 
stead  the  banner  of  their  mother  country.  Here, 
too,  as  at  the  South,  the  poh'tical  subdivisions 
ceased  to  be  recognized  ;  and  for  the  whole  terri- 
tory thus  occupied  a  single  Governor  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  Board,  at  Peking,  to  act  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Viceroy. 

This  new  establishment  met  with  no  resistance, 
for  the  reason  that  the  American  population  had 
become  too  few  for  resistance.  Further  chancres 
and  modifications  were,  accordingly,  soon  effected, 
the  first  of  these  havinof  relation  to  the  adminis- 
tration  of  justice. 

The  Common  Law  system  of  jurisprudence  was 
by  far  too  subtle  in  its  distinctions  and  too  nice  in 
its  discriminations  to  dispense  the  quality  of  justice 
which  was  necessary  to  the  regulation  of  Asiatic 
society.  During  the  many  years  that  the  affairs 
of  the  country  in  which  they  were  sojourners  had 
been  administered  under  its  application  the  Asiatic 
mind  had  never  become  trained  to  grasp  the  causes 
which  so  often  seemed  to  work  the  grossest  in- 
justice. They  had  seen  felons  of  every  grade 
upon  trial,  the  proofs  of  whose  guilt  were  con- 
clusive ;  heard  read  the  verdicts  of  the  juries  de- 
claring them  guilty  ;  watched  the  Judges  as  they 
pronounced  sentence  with  all-becoming  gravity, 
and  reasonably  supposed  that  nothing  was  left  but 
to  carry  the  sentence  into  execution,  with  no 
thought  that  this  grave  and  expensive  proceeding 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  217 

was  a  mere  farce  to  all  purposes,  if  not  so  to  all 
intents.  They  were  quite  unprepared  to  learn,  a 
few  weeks  subsequently,  that  the  felon  of  whose 
trial,  conviction  and  sentence  they  had  been  wit- 
nesses, was  free,  and  that  his  conviction  was  purely 
a  mistake.  If,  upon  inquir)-,  they  should  seek  to 
ascertain  in  what  the  mistake  consisted,  they  were 
very  imperfectly  satisfied  with  the  explanation 
given,  which  might  be,  in  effect,  that  the  Judge 
had  instructed  the  jury  that  a  "reasonable  doubt" 
meant  such  an  one  as  excludes  every  hypothesis 
except  that  of  the  innocence  of  the  prisoner  ;  or 
that  the  Judge  had  made  a  few  remarks  to  the 
jury,  by  way  of  defining  legal  terms,  which  were 
not  submitted  in  writinof  nor  recorded.  The  Mon- 
golians  neither  understood  nor  respected  refine- 
ments like  these,  which,  in  their  judgment,  did  not 
rise  even  to  the  dignity  of  a  Chinese  farce,  but 
belonged  more  properly  to  the  dominion  of  patent 
absurdity. 

A  system  thus  abounding  in  metaphysical  ab- 
stractions was  not  an  instrument  of  justice  which 
the  Asiatic  mind  could  utilize.  Not  only  was  it 
insufficient  to  settle  even  their  civil  differences,  in 
^  accordance  with  their  standard  of  justice,  but  they 
deemed  it  inadequate  for  the  purpose  of  public 
protection  even  from  violence.  They  reasoned 
that  if  through  its  meshes  a  criminal  could  escape 
punishment,  of  whose  guilt  there  was  no  doubt, 
simply  because  the  Judge  did  not  happen  to  under- 


2  1 8  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

Stand  the  force  of  a  distinction  which  he  presumed 
to  interpret,  there  was  no  power  left  in  Asiatic 
morals  that  could  step  in  to  protect  the  people 
from  murder  or  pillage.  It  was  therefore  decreed, 
immediately  upon  the  transfer  of  their  allegiance, 
that  the  laws  and  the  language  of  China  should  be 
the  laws  and  the  language  of  this  province  of  her 
empire  ;  and  that  the  code  of  laws  under  which 
the  atfairs  of  the  country  had  been  administered 
in  the  past  be  forever  abrogated  and  repealed. 

Having  thus  annihilated  the  last  vestige  of  rep- 
resentative government  within  this  territory,  and 
erected  upon  its  ruins  the  will  of  an  individual,  the 
new  government  turned  its  attention  to  the  regu- 
lation of  its  political  institutions. 

First,  under  this  head,  the  religion  of  Chris- 
tianity, practiced  by  the  native  barbarians,  was 
declared  unlawful  in  most  of  its  teachings,  inas- 
much as  it  conflicted  with  the  religion  of  Con- 
fucius. Both  its  precepts  and  its  forms  were 
odious.  On  the  whole,  it  was  determined  that  as 
an  institution  it  was  neither  conducive  to  the  well- 
beino-  of  the  barbarians  themselves  nor  to  the 
welfare  of  the  faithful  subjects  of  His  Majesty  the 
Emperor.  These  suggestions  being  submitted  to 
the  Emperor,  at  Peking,  were  disposed  of  with 
the  brevity  peculiar  to  the  edicts  of  that  august 
monarch,  as  follows  : 

"  The  Governor  of  our  Pacific  province,  in 
America,  reasons  well.      Let  the  religion  of  the 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  219 

native  barbarians  in  our  said  province  be  sup- 
pressed.    This  from  the  Emperor," 

The  promulgation  of  this  edict  was  accompanied 
by  a  statement  of  the  penalty  for  its  non-observ- 
ance. This  latter  recited,  that  as  the  edict  was, 
and  conveyed  the  direct  expression  of,  the  Imperial 
will,  any  violation  was  an  act  of  resistance  to  the 
Imperial  pleasure,  and  punishable  with  death. 

This  had  the  desired  effect.  If  there  were 
those  among  the  Asiatics  who  had  imbibed  the 
doctrines  preached  to  them  by  the  Christian 
zealots,  or  among  the  remnant  of  the  American 
population  who  still  loved  and  cherished  those 
precepts,  that  were  among  the  first  their  infant 
lips  had  learned  to  utter,  and  which  were  doubly 
sanctified  by  every  association  of  home  and  kin- 
dred, they  have  left  no  record  to  show  that  they 
resisted  the  decree,  and  the  weight  of  their  conse- 
quent trials  and  persecutions.  Martyrs  there  may 
have  been,  and  doubtless  were,  under  the  cruel 
obligation  of  this  edict,  but  neither  their  names 
nor  the  story  of  their  martyrdom  has  survived 
the  wreck  of  war  and  the  ruins  of  conquest. 

The  subjugation  was  complete.  The  sceptre 
had  passed  from  the  hand  of  a  free,  enlightened 
and  generous  people.  In  the  matter  of  territory, 
a  mighty  empire  had  been  lost  and  won  ;  for  that 
which  once  comprised  the  Pacific  States  of  the 
great  American  Republic,  was  now,  in  every  ele- 
ment of  fact,  as  well  as  in  theory,  a  dependency  of 
the  Chinese  Empire.  ^ 


CHAPTER    XII. 

Americans  and  Europeans  from  an  Asiatic  Standpoint In- 
trigue AGAINST  European  Intervention Russia  and  Eng- 
land   in    Central    Asia The    Struggle    Transferreh    to 

Europe The   Eastern  Question Austria  and  Germany 

The   "Plains   of  Mursa  " Small  Causes   and    Great 

Effects The  Balance  of  Power France Another 

Bonaparte A  Mexican   Revolution  Analyzed How  the 

South  American  Republics  Fight. 

In  the  conception  as  well  as  in  the  execution  of 
their  scheme  of  conquest,  it  would  seem  as  though 
the  wise  heads  of  the  Chinese  administration  had 
prepared  for  every  possible  contingency. 

They  had  long  had  correct  information  of  the 
affairs  of  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
through  means  of  their  agents,  who,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  had  not  only  ascended  to  the  posi- 
tions of  Governors  of  States,  at  an  early  stage  of 
the  conquest,  but  had  likewise  obtained  large  re- 
presentation in  the  halls  of  Congress. 

Of  the  power  of  China,  to  crush  down,  by  force 
of  superior  numbers,  the  most  formidable  arm)- 
that  the  United  States  could  possibly  raise,  she 
was  fully  satisfied ;  but  she  was  by  no  means  satis- 
fied that  Europe  would  remain  an  indifferent  spec- 
tator of  the  struggle.     She  reflected  that  the  peo- 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  221 

pie  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  were  not  only  of 
the  same  race,  but  that  their  civilization,  their  liter- 
ature, their  religion,  their  customs  and  manners, 
and  even  their  domestic  habits  of  daily  life  were 
the  same  —  that  their  langruages  were  common  to 
the  educated  classes,  and  their  sympathies  identi- 
cal. She  concluded  that  the  United  States  would 
endeavor  to  obtain  European  co-operation  as  soon 
as  they  should  discover  that  their  national  inde- 
pendence was  imperilled;  and  the  statesmen  of 
China  were  disposed  to  believe  that  unless  the 
European  nations  were  furnished  sufificient  em- 
ployment at  home,  their  co-operation  would  surely 
be  extended.  It  was,  therefore,  determined,  on 
the  part  of  China,  to  furnish  them  such  employ- 
ment as  would  call  into  active  play  all  their  war- 
like energies,  and  secure  their  non-intervention  in 
trans-Atlantic  affairs. 

To  carry  out  this  purpose,  she  cast  about  to 
discover  the  most  expeditious  and  effectual  method 
to  carry  discord  into  Europe,  and  soon  discovered 
a  garden  spot  in  which  to  plant  the  unholy  seed 
that  was  destined  to  drench  the  soil  of  Europe 
with  the  blood  of  her  people.  She  discovered,  at 
her  very  door,  the  little  principality  of  Afghanis- 
tan, which  had  been  thrice  overrun  by  British  sol- 
diers, and  which  had  the  prerogative  of  independ- 
ence wrested  from  its  crown,  although  the  shadow 
was  permitted  to  remain.  The  Afghanistans  are 
a  brave  people,  untrained  to  war  and  inured  to  all 


22  2  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

the  habits  of  peace.  Eminently  proud  of  their 
antiquity,  as  a  people,  they  felt  keenly  the  degra- 
dation of  their  political  relation  with  the  British 
empire,  and  longed  for  an  opportunity  to  throw- 
off  the  galling  yoke. 

This  little  principality  was  the  humble  instru- 
ment throuofh  which  China  now  resolved  to  in- 
volve  Europe  in  a  flame  of  war. 

What  mattered  it  that  the  little  State  might  be 
blotted  out  from  the  sisterhood  of  nations,  or  that 
it  might  be  selected  as  the  battle  ground  for  two 
of  the  most  powerful  empires  of  the  earth. 
Considerations  like  these  have  never  curbed  the 
ambitious  designs  of  conscious  power.  She  pro- 
cured the  Afghanistans  to  turn  against  their  dic- 
tators, to  call  in  the  aid  of  their  southern  neigh- 
bor, raise  the  standard  of  revolt  and  establish 
themselves  as  a  protectorate  under  the  Russian 
empire.  She  had  already  prepared  Russia  to  ac- 
cept the  trust;  and  she  reasoned  rightly  that  Eng- 
land would  never  relinquish,  without  an  obstinate 
struggle,  this  advantage  to  her  formidable  rival. 

A  sudden  revolt  and  a  widespread  massacre  of 
the  English  throughout  the  whole  of  Afghanistan, 
were  the  first  fruits  borne  by  this  sprouting  in- 
trigue. As  erst,  an  army  of  Sepoys,  officered  by 
Englishmen,  was  soon  upon  the  Indian  frontier 
of  Afghanistan,  but  only  to  find  its  further  pro- 
gress opposed  by  a  powerful  army  of  Russian 
veterans. 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  223 

But  it  is  not  the  province  of  this  work  to  enter 
into  the  details  of  the  Anglo- Russian  struggle 
which  ensued,  any  further  than  to  show  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  torch  of  war  was  communicated 
to  Europe,  and  there  fostered  and  maintained. 

No  doubt  but  that  the  history  of  this  conflict 
would  be  highly  interesting  and  instructive;  but 
a  digression  here  that  would  lay  the  details  before 
the  reader,  although  it  might  be  excused,  on  gen- 
eral principles,  would  be  outside  the  purpose  of 
this  volume,  and  hence  unwarrantable.  I  will, 
therefore,  leave  the  details  of  the  Asiatic  question 
for  the  historian  of  that  conflict,  and  proceed  to 
show  how  the  contagion  was  imparted  to  every 
portion  of  Europe. 

The  success  of  the  Russian  arms  in  Asia,  com- 
pelled England  to  carry  the  w^ar  into  Europe, 
where,  through  the  instrumentality  of  her  power- 
ful fleet  she  might  repair  her  losses  upon  the  land. 

Russia  had  anticipated  the  presence  of  an  En- 
glish squadron  in  the  Black  Sea,  and  expecting 
that  this  would  be  likely  to  lead  to  complications 
between  herself  and  hei*ancient  enemy  at  Constan- 
tinople, concluded  a  treaty  with  Germany,  one  of 
the  provisions  of  which  was  that  the  latter,  in  the 
event  of  Russian  complications  with  Turkey,  would 
guarantee  the  neutrality  of  Austria. 

The  disposition  of  Turkey  toward  the  contend- 
inor  forces  was  not  lonor  a  matter  of  doubt,  for  the 
Sultan  freely  declared  his  purpose  to  make  com- 


2  24  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

mon  cause  with  England.  The  Eastern  question 
was  therefore  once  more  at  issue,  and  the  con- 
tending parties  were  making  the  most  gigantic 
preparations — preparations  that  were  destined  to 
result  in  the  removal  of  an  ulcer  that  for  four 
centuries  had  inflamed  and  irritated  the  peace  of 
Europe. 

Once  more  the  Russian  columns  were  on  the 
south  bank  of  the  Danube,  and  taking  up  their 
several  lines  of  march  for  Constantinople.  The 
Slavonic  peoples  throughout  their  course  of  march 
were  enthusiastic,  and  so  far  from  protesting 
aofainst  the  violation  of  their  territories,  offered 
their  great  champion  free  transit,  and  attached 
themselves  by  thousands  to  the  Russian  armies. 
This  demonstration  it  was  that  particularly  aroused 
the  jealousy  of  Austria.  She  dreaded  the  en- 
croachments of  her  powerful  neighbor,  for  she 
well  understood  the  unquenchable  ambition  of  the 
House  of  Romanoff.  The  possession  by  Russia 
of  territory  contigyous  to  her  own,  on  the  south 
of  the  Danube,  would  be  a  standing  menace  to  the 
power,  if  not,  indeed,  to  the  very  independence  of 
Austria.  She  therefore  resolved  to  strike  at  a 
time  when  Russia  was  engaged  in  her  struggle 
with  the  allied  powers  of  England  and  Turkey, 
under  the  well-grounded  conviction  that  the  com- 
bined strength  of  the  three  powers  would  settle 
forever  the  pretensions  of  Russia  to  dictate  the 
policy  of  the  Slavonic  peoples,  as  well  as  her  pros- 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  225 

pects  of  territorial  acquisition  among  the  Danubian 
principalities. 

This  determination  appealed  to  Germany  for  the 
enforcement  of  her  guarantees  to  Russia,  under 
the  treaty  ratified  by  the  two  governments.  The 
German  note  had  been  received  by  the  Austrian 
government,  clearly  implying  that  Germany  must 
regard  any  act  of  interference  by  Austria,  in  the 
Anglo- Russian  contest,  as  endangering  the  peace 
of  Europe;  and  that  further  perseverance  in  her 
present  course  would  be  followed  by  a  suspension 
of  diplomatic  relations  between  Austria  and  her- 
self. Austria,  however,  relying  upon  the  attitude 
of  the  French  republic  toward  the  German  em 
pire,  readily  justified  herself  in  disregarding  the 
latter's  admonition.  She  believed  that  France 
awaited  only  a  favorable  opportunity  to  reclaim 
her  Rhenish  provinces;  and  that  Germany  would 
not  hazard  an  active  interference  in  the  Eastern 
difficulty  at  the  risk  of  so  great  a  contingency. 
She,  therefore,  continued  to  arm  and  to  concen- 
trate her  forces  along  the  frontier  of  Servia,  de- 
termined to  struggle  for  the  autonomy  of  Turkey 
as  the  most  likely  means  of  curbing  the  danger- 
ous ambition  of  Russia. 

Meantime,  the  principal  actors  in  the  tragedy 
had  determined  upon  their  several  courses  of 
action. 

The  British  fleet  was  before  Constantinople  and 

its  defenses,  manned  by  British  and  Austrian  sol- 
15 


2  26  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

diers,  while  the  grandest  army  ever  equipped  by 
a  Russian  sovereign  approached  from  behind. 
This  latter  had  already  routed  the  allied  forces  of 
Austria  and  Turkey  in  two  engagements  near  the 
Servian  frontier,  and  was  now  enjoying  an  unin- 
terrupted march  toward  Adrianople,  where  a  still 
more  powerful  combination  of  all  the  allies  was 
formed  to  check  its  further  progress. 

But,  the  moment  had  arrived  when  Germany 
felt  herself  called  upon  to  act.  She  had  guaran- 
teed the  neutrality  of  Austria,  and  that  guarantee 
had  been  violated. 

She  could  have  brooked  the  warlike  prepara- 
tions of  Austria,  and  looked  with  composure  upon 
the  marshallinof  of  her  armies  within  her  own  ter- 
ritory.  While  her  demonstrations  were  confined 
to  acts  like  these,  she  considered  that  her  inter- 
ference would  be  dictatorial  and  unwarrantable; 
but,  now  that  she  had  penetrated  beyond  her  own 
boundaries,  violated  the  neutrality  of  a  defenseless 
state,  and  actually  participated  in  a  battle  upon  the 
soil  of  Turkey,  Germany  could  no  longer  hesitate. 

With  that  characteristic  expedition  which  has 
made  the  troops  of  Germany  invincible  in  the 
late  European  wars,  she  now  commenced  the  mo- 
bilization of  her  immense  armies. 

"  On,  to  Vienna!"  once  more  became  the  bat- 
tle-cry; and  her  legions  soon  penetrated  to  Vienna 
and  far  beyond;  for,  experiencing  unexpected  dif- 
ficulty in  reducing  the  capital,  her  armies   swept 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        22/ 

southward,  until  once  more  the  ancient  plains  of 
Mursa  echoed  to  the  thunders  of  war;  and  a 
mightier  army  than  that  of  Magnentius  reddened 
with  its  blood  the  sacred  waters  of  the  Drave. 
Here  the  power  of  Austria  was  overthrown  in  a 
general  engagement. 

Thus,  sixteen  centuries  after  the  factions  of 
Rome  had  crippled,  forever,  the  power  of  the 
Western  Empire,  the  scene  of  that  fratricide  wit- 
nessed another  struggle — one  that  led  directly  to 
the  annihilation  of  the  power  which  swept  the  last 
monument  of  Roman  majesty  from  the  face  of 
Europe.  At  Mursa,  the  first  great  spasm  of  ad- 
vancinof  dissolution  shook  the  frame-work  of  the 
Roman  Empire  ;  at  Mursa  (now  Esseck)  the  last 
of  the  Byzantine  Caesars  was,  at  last,  avenged. 

Had  Germany  remained  satisfied  with  her  vic- 
tory, not  only  might  the  Eastern  question  have 
been  localized  and  settled  without  further  disturb- 
ance, but  Europe  might  have  returned  to  the  con- 
templation of  her  peaceful  pursuits  without  appre- 
hension ;  the  United  States  miofht  have  obtained 
the  assistance  which  their  great  extremity  de- 
manded, and  thus  have  emero-ed  from  their  o^reat 
peril  purified  by  suffering  and  ripened  in  wisdom 
by  the  terrible  experience  through  which  they  had 
passed.  But  the  inscrutable  things  of  destiny  had 
not  been  fulfilled,  and  Fate  clamored  for  their  ful- 
fillment. Circumstances,  insiofnificant  in  them- 
selves,  have  ever  been  liable  to  lead  to  results  of 


228  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

the  greatest  magnitude  and  importance  ;  and 
human  actions,  thousfhts  and  associations  are  so 
interwoven,  without  our  recognition,  that  even 
the  willful  pleasure  of  an  individual,  reduced  to 
action,  in  an  obscure  corner  of  the  globe,  may 
lead  to  revolutions  and  the  overthrow  of  empires. 
Indeed,  the  august  representatives  who  consti- 
tuted the  Berlin  Congress  were  called  together 
pursuant  to  a  circumstance  so  ignoble  as  the  law- 
less gratification  of  his  baser  passions  by  a  Turk- 
ish Bey,  at  a  remote  hamlet  in  Herzogovinia. 

In  the  present  controversy,  Germany  would 
not  suffer  to  pass,  without  full  recognition,  so  fair 
an  opportunity  to  add  to  the  power  and  wealth  of 
her  empire.  While  her  army  was  quartered  in 
the  capital  of  Austria,  she  was  in  a  position  to 
dictate  her  terms.  She  had  placed  herself  in  a 
similar  position  once  before,  and  her  success  in 
that  instance  lent  force  to  her  present  audacity. 
The  war  indemnity  which  she  sought  to  exact  was 
so  absurdly  extravagant  that  Austria,  even  in  her 
humiliation,  could  not  entertain  a  thought  of  acqui- 
escence in  the  condition  proposed.  This  sug- 
gested the  dismemberment  of  the  Austrian  em- 
pire, Germany  claiming  the  right  to  indemnity  by 
the  appropriation  of  sufficient  Austrian  territory  to 
give  symmetr)'  and  compactness  to  her  south- 
eastern boundary. 

Up  to  this  time  France  had  remained  a  passive 
spectator  of  the  struggle  going    on  among   her 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  229 

eastern  neighbors.  This  last  attempt,  however, 
was  aimed  at  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe, 
and  hence  a  menace  even  to  France.  She  there- 
fore simply  declared  that  France  would  remon- 
strate against  any  dismemberment  of  the  conquered 
State. 

But  Germany  had  already  apportioned  to  her- 
self the  indemnity  territory,  and  it  required  more 
than  a  simple  remonstrance  to  change  her  pur- 
pose. Already  her  armies  were  mustering  on  the 
Rhine  in  anticipation  of  a  yet  more  forcible  pro- 
test from  France  ;  nor  was  she  disappointed. 
Another  Bonaparte,  upon  whom  had  descended 
the  military  spirit  and  genius  of  his  great  ancestor, 
led  the  legions  of  the  French  republic,  and  once 
more  that  wonderful  people  carried  victory  to  her 
arms  beyond  the  Rhine. 

By  this  very  condensed  review  of  the  intrigues 
of  China,  of  the  status  of  the  Eastern  question, 
and  that  other  intanc^ible  thinor  which  has  hungf 
like  a  nightmare  over  the  peace  of  Europe,  and  is 
known  as  the  "  Balance  of  Power,"  I  have  shown, 
although  somewhat  imperfectly,  yet  sufficiently  for 
my  purpose,  the  condition  of  Europe  at  the  time 
when  America  so  urgently  demanded  her  sym- 
pathy and  support.  All  her  first-class  powers 
were  engaged  in  the  prosecution  of  the  most 
destructive  general  war  that  had  visited  Europe 
since  the  age  of  the  French  Revolution. 

It   necessarily  followed  that  the  appeal  which 


230        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

rang  out  from  America  fell  among  peoples  too 
immediately  occupied  to  harken  to  its  voice. 
Their  own  liberties  were  either  threatened  or 
actually  invaded,  and  demanded  their  first  and 
undivided  attention.  They  had  been  forced  by 
circumstances  upon  a  career  of  war,  and  they  had 
no  guarantee  that  any  one  of  them  should  emerge 
from  its  rigorous  discipline  with  her  national  inde- 
pendence secured. 

So  far  as  Europe  was  concerned,  therefore,  the 
intriofue  of  China  had  borne  the  fullest  measure  of 
success,  and  America  must  fight  her  battles  alone. 

At  home  it  were  vain  to  expect  any  valuable 
assistance  or  support.  Her  neighbors  were  already 
marked  for  doom,  and  only  suffered  to  enjoy  their 
independence  while  the  one  power  of  America 
that  miofht  be  considered  formidable  was  under- 
going  the  process  of  subjugation. 

Mexico,  in  a  condition  of  happy  thoughtless- 
ness upon  matters  of  national  regeneration,  was 
indulging  in  the  enjoyment  of  her  chronic  rebel- 
lion. Pronunciamento  and  counter-pronunciamento 
were  hurled  backward  and  forward  between  her 
rival  factions  with  the  most  reckless  abandon. 
Presidents  elected,  appointed,  created,  proclaimed, 
were  deposed  and  succeeded  by  others  holding 
under  a  like  precarious  tenure,  as  one  faction  or 
the  other  happened  to  hold  possession  of  the 
capital.  Ministers  of  State,  untrained  to  diplo- 
macy,  succeeded   others   more   or  less   ignorant. 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        23I 

and  were  in  turn  supplanted,  at  each  succession, 
while  an  army  of  sycophants  flanked  every  public 
functionary,  and,  by  a  successful  course  of  flattery, 
obtained  unnumbered  chartered  privileges  to  plun- 
der the  beggarly  remnant  of  the  people. 

Mexico  was,  indeed,  in  her  glory.  Her  ambi- 
tious men  were  bedecked  (as  were  their  horses) 
with  gold  and  silver,  lace  and  embroidery,  plun- 
dered from  whomsoever  dared  to  be  enterorisinof 
and  industrious.  Her  middle  class  was  clothed  in 
rags,  and  her  poor  class,  thanks  to  her  genial 
climate  and  spontaneous  productions,  were  en- 
abled to  go  naked  and  subsist  on  the  bounties 
which  Nature  had  provided. 

The  Viceroy  contemplated  this  picture  with  a 
sense  of  gloating  satisfaction.  There,  where  once 
arose  the  stately  architecture  of  a  people  with 
whom  he  claimed  race,  and,  perhaps,  national, 
kindred,  ere  yet  the  avarice  of  the  Spanish  con- 
querors had  become  inflamed  by  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  fabulous  treasures  of  the  Aztec  Princes 
— there  his  augfust  sovereiorn  would  found  another 
empire,  greater  by  far  than  that  which  the  vandal 
armies  of  Spain  had  blotted  from  the  earth. 

The  republics  of  South  America  were  likewise 
luxuriating  in  their  wonted  struggles.  Their  treas- 
uries exhausted  ;  their  national  credit  no  longer 
negotiable  either  at  home  or  in  the  markets  of  the 
world,  they  were  unable  to  maintain  even  a  de- 
fensive war,  except  of  that  emasculated  character 


232        LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

peculiar  to  themselves.  To  engage  in  any  man- 
ner ill  the  prosecution  of  a  foreign  war  was  an 
enterprise  illimitably  beyond  the  reach  of  any 
South  American  State,  or  even  of  them  all  com- 
bined. 

It  was  plain  that  the  struggle  of  the  North 
American  Republic  with  the  Asiatic  invader  must 
be  determined  by  the  superior  prowess  of  the  im- 
mediate parties  themselves.  She  had  called 
upon  Europe,  and  found  her  kindred  there  in  a 
condition  of  uncertainity  and  peril  almost  as  im- 
minent as  her  own.  She  had  scanned  the  sister- 
hood of  States  throughout  both  Americas,  only  to 
discover  a  chain  of  governments  revelling  in  an- 
archy and  the  indulgence  of  every  species  of 
licentiousness. 

From  the  contemplation  of  those  pictures  she 
turned  aijain  to  her  own.  Millions  of  brave  hearts 
there  still  remained  ;  millions  of  hands  that  dared, 
defended  ;  the  cause  of  liberty  trembling  in  the 
balance,  and  a  circumfluous  tide  of  invasion  on 
every  hand.  But  another  scene  was  there  ;  for 
above  the  armed  hosts  of  the  Republic  the  Spirit 
of  Freedom  fanned  with  celestial  wing  the  spark 
of  hope  that  nerved  to  whatsoever  might  befall — 
whether  it  be  the  cheerful  acclaim  of  the  nation's 
glory  or  the  dismal  sentence  of  a  nation's  doom. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Army  Characteristics The  Struggle  for  Existence Glory 

AND  Gold Mongolian  Reverses Supplies  Begin  to  Fail 

Negative  Success Practical  Infinitude The  Bound- 
aries OF  Freedom The  Spirit  of  Colonial  Days The 

Women  of  America Famine  :     Its  Progress  and  its  Victims 

Material  Exhaustion. 

Having  stationed  large  detachments  of  troops 
along  the  coast  in  order  to  protect  the  rear  of  the 
army,  the  Chinese  now  began  a  series  of  vigorous 
movements  in  front  of  the  American  lines.  But 
in  these  aesfressive  demonstrations  there  was  no 
rashness,  but  the  systematic  manoeuvring  of  an 
army  thoroughly  trained  to  the  work  in  hand. 
In  this  case,  as  in  all  else  to  which  the  Asiatic 
has  devoted  his  endeavors,  his  course  was  marked 
by  the  same  passiveness  and  patient  perseverance 
that  might  have  characterized  it  had  every  step  of 
its  progress  been  the  order  of  a  specific  calcula- 
tion. 

The  army  which  now  mustered  at  the  interior 
was  such  an  one  as  a  Frenchman  would  expect  to 
see  dissolve  from  a  gradual  course  of  disintegra- 
tion, by  reason  of  an  insufficiency  of  the  vital  prin- 
ciple to  give  motion,  or  even  cohesion,  to  its  pon- 


2  34  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

derous  bulk.  No  sounds  of  enthusiasm  bespoke 
the  fervor  of  its  spirit  or  lightened  the  weighty- 
majesty  of  its  purpose  ;  no  martial  music  quick- 
ened its  slugfo^ard  circulation  ;  but  cold  blooded  as 
the  serpent  that  inhabits  the  land  whence  it 
sprang,  its  very  torpor  was  suggestive  of  its  native 
hideousness,  its  latent  venom  and  its  cruel  power. 

Let  them  that  would  interpret  the  possibilities 
of  an  army  from  a  contemplation  of  its  esprit  de 
corps  remember  the  while,  that  the  consideration 
of  race  becomes  an  important  factor. 

The  buoyant  disposition  of  the  Caucasian  will 
not  suffer  a  restraint  that  would  aim  to  stifle  the 
exuberance  of  his  spirits,  and  with  particular 
emphasis  will  this  remark  apply  when  military 
glory  is  the  promised  reward  of  daring  military 
adventure.  With  the  Mongolian,  the  case  is  dif- 
ferent.  He  is  indifferent  to  glory  ;  he  is  partial 
to  peace,  and  he  loves  luxury.  But,  above  and 
beyond  all  these,  he  worships  gold,  and  will  im- 
peril all  else  that  will  fairly  promise  its  acquisition 
as  an  alternative.  This  is  the  individual  char- 
acteristic of  the  Mongolian  in  this  particular,  and 
it  is  doubly  intensified  by  individual  aggregation. 

That  which  enthusiasm  gives  to  the  European 
soldier  this  sordid  prepossession  gives  to  the 
Monsfolian,  and  under  its  stimulus  he  becomes  the 
instrument  of  a  stolid  daring-  that  renders  him 
oblivious  alike  to  the  passions  that  might  impel  a 
rude  nature  to  acts  of  cruelty,  or  the  emotions  that 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  235 

a  gentle  nature  might  experience  to  save.  The 
victory  for  which  he  struggles  has  that  one  object 
— acquisition — in  the  pursuit  of  which  he  coolly 
and  deliberately  hurls  defiance  into  the  face  of 
death,  and  pressess  onward  to  conquest  and  the 
Of  rave. 

It  demanded  the  exercise  of  all  this  stolid  per- 
sistence, even  supported  as  it  was  by  unlimited 
numbers,  to  withstand  the  reverses  that  the  armies 
of  China  encountered  at  the  opening  of  the  last 
struggle  with  the  organized  armies  of  the  United 
States. 

While  her  comparatively  compact  soldiery  were 
sweeping  through  the  South,  or  devastating  New 
England,  opposed  only  by  a  poorly-organized, 
poorly-armed  and  thoroughly  demoralized  people, 
encumbered  by  the  care  of  their  women  and 
children,  and  tied  to  localities  by  those  that  forged 
around  them  the  chains  of  natural  affection,  the 
work  of  conquest  seemed  almost  simple.  But  the 
aspect  of  the  conflict  had  begun  to  present  a  wide- 
ly different  front.  The  American  intellect  had 
improvised  new  engines  of  war,  new  methods  of 
destruction,  the  operation  of  which  seemed  des- 
tined to  challenge  the  fullest  capacity  of  speedy 
reinforcement  by  the  mother  country.  By  num- 
bers vastly  inferior  to  their  own,  the  Asiatics  were 
swept  down  at  every  engagement,  and  it  soon 
became  evident  to  the  Viceroy  that  nothing  short 
of  complete  and  absolute  exhaustion  of  the  Amer- 


236  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

leans,  by  prolonging  the  period  of  conflict,  would 
ever  avail  to  crown  the  Asiatic  cause  with  victory. 
He  saw  that  his  losses  in  killed  at  each  engage- 
ment, notwithstanding  the  vast  superiority  in  num- 
ber of  his  troops,  were  more  than  double  the  losses 
sustained  by  the  Americans  from  the  like  cause, 
while  the  inferior  surgical  skill  of  the  Hospital 
Department  of  his  own  army  could  save  but  a 
comparatively  trifling  proportion  of  the  wounded. 
From  local  causes,  however,  the  mortality  in  camp 
occurring  among  the  Mongolians  was  less  in  pro- 
portion to  their  numbers  than  in  the  camps  of  the 
Americans. 

Unfortunately  for  the  American  cause,  as  well 
as  for  the  comfort  and  availability  of  the  Ameri- 
can armies,  the  struggle  originated  in  a  surprise. 
The  war  had  assumed  the  proportions  of  an  irre- 
pressible rebellion  in  the  brief  space  of  a  few 
months  after  its  indications  first  became  manifest. 
Up  to  that  hour  the  quarrels  and  contentions  of 
the  political  factions  had  so  occupied  the  country's 
attention  that  the  contingency  of  war  was  one  for 
which  no  provision  had  been  made.  The  country 
was,  therefore,  to  the  last  degree  unprepared  for 
this  emergency.  Of  munitions  of  war  there  was 
an  abundance,  partly  from  the  fact  that  these  could 
be  manufactured  to  supply  any  demand,  while  the 
materials  for  their  composition  were  abundant. 
But  the  supplies  of  provisions  and  clothing  suf- 
ficient for  an  immense  army  were  fast  becoming 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  237 

exhausted,  and  there  was  nowhere  from  which  to 
expect  a  fresh  supply. 

Not  only  the  army,  but  what  remained  of  the 
once  proud  population  of  the  United  States  must 
be  sustained.  Of  this  latter  one-third  had  been 
sent  abroad  to  escape  the  horrors  of  war  and  the 
still  greater  horrors  of  a  peace  that  might  bring 
with  it  the  practical  vassalage  of  a  conquered 
people.  Many  were  scattered  over  the  Western 
Territories,  or  were  refugees  in  the  British  pos- 
sessions ;  while  the  numbers  that  were  still  held 
as  prisoners  in  the  South,  their  condition  and  their 
final  disposition,  were  matters  wrapped  in  the 
most  impenetrable  mystery. 

For  two  years  the  struggle  had  been  protracted, 
and  victory  after  victory  had  crowned  the  cause  of 
Freedom.  But  they  were  victories  that  carried 
within  them  the  germ  of  ultimate  defeat.  They 
were  only  victories  in  the  field — the  victory  of  an 
army  over  another  army  with  which  it  happened 
to  become  engaged.  They  extinguished  no  en- 
thusiastic fire  in  the  ranks  of  the  mutilated  armies 
of  the  foe,  nor  led  to  panic  nor  rout ;  for  neither 
enthusiasm  nor  the  spirit  that  impels  to  panic  was 
ever  enthroned  upon  its  standards.  It  might  be 
said  of  those  victories  in  the  field  that  they  tended 
toward  the  exhaustion  of  the  enemy ;  but  the 
vapors  that  arise  from  the  bosom  of  the  sea  may 
suQfSfest  the  transmutation  of  the  ocean  itself  into 
the  ether  whence  it  came.     But  this  recognition  of 


238  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

the  attribute  of  potentiality  is  the  most  that  could 
be  assumed.  In  like  manner  might  the  victories 
of  the  patriots  suggest  to  the  contemplative  mind 
the  annihilation  of  the  whole  human  race  by  the 
power  of  a  single  arm  constantly  destroying,  but 
indestructible  by  human  strength  or  human  artifice 
in  itself;  but  the  principle  is  not  applicable  to 
practical  life,  and  could  give  no  hope  nor  encour- 
agement to  the  defenders  of  their  country,  beset 
by  a  practically  inexhaustible  foe. 

As  yet,  less  than  half  a  million  of  the  invaders 
had  been  slain,  and  behind  was  a  reservoir  of 
nearly  five  hundred  millions  to  supply  the  devas- 
tation of  war,  while  the  fallen  soldiers  of  the  Re- 
public left  behind  them  no  source  of  substitution. 

Another  Winter  was  approaching ;  and  this 
time  to  find  the  army  of  the  Republic  destitute 
of  even  the  rude  comforts  of  army  life,  and  con- 
fined to  a  latitude  where  the  rigor  of  Winter  is 
unassuaged  by  either  sunshine  or  calm  for  a  period 
of  many  months.  Within  its  martial  circle,  and 
comprising  the  territory  over  which  the  flag  of  the 
Union  was  still  permitted  to  wave,  were  sixteen 
States,  including  New  Jersey,  on  the  east,  and 
Iowa,  on  the  west.  Within  these  limits  was  con- 
centrated all  that  remained  of  American  independ- 
ence, republican  freedom,  and  the  nationality  of 
the  union  of  States — all  that  remained  of  the 
people,  of  their  wealth,  and  of  the  proud  inheri- 
tance of  their  fathers.     But  not  alone  those  ves- 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  239 

tiges  of  national  greatness,  for  there  was  present, 
besides,  enough  to  recall  those  gloomy  narratives 
of  history  that  picture  war's  sullen  desolation,  or 
the  active  horrors  of  a  siege.  Here,  too,  was  the 
abode  of  disease,  of  famine,  of  human  suffering. 

The  class  distinctions  which  once  divided  the 
people  had  long  since  disappeared,  and  American 
life  returned,  first,  to  the  simplicity  of  colonial 
days,  then  to  a  condition  of  common  distress,  un- 
paralleled by  the  experience  of  Revolutionary 
times. 

The  women  of  America,  whom  wealth  and  all 
its  attendant  advantages,  its  fascinations  and  its 
allurements,  had  unfitted  for  purposes  of  general 
utility  in  the  brighter  days  of  the  Republic,  under 
the  new  discipline  of  adversity  soon  reasserted  the 
inherent  divinity  of  their  nature.  Untrained  to 
labor,  yet  they  soon  learned  to  toil  ;  unaccus- 
tomed to  want,  yet  they  bore,  without  complain- 
ing, the  hardships  of  destitution.  Theirs  were  the 
hands  that  cultivated  the  fields  ;  theirs  the  labor 
that  supplied  the  army  with  raiment.  Their  lively 
sympathy  readily  anticipated  the  myriad  vicissi- 
tudes of  the  soldier's  career,  and  were  ever  ready 
to  meet  new  emergencies  by  new  sacrifices.  They 
had  learned  to  discard  the  common  comforts  of 
life,  having  long  since  denied  themselves  its  luxu- 
ries, that  both  these  might  be  made  to  subserve 
the  common  purpose  of  defence  and  contribute  to 
the  availability  of  the  army. 


240  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

But  the  burden  could  not  longer  be  borne.  Fx- 
hausted  nature  is  imperative  when  she  demands 
repose,  and  if  the  demand  be  too  long  denied  her, 
in  the  usual  method  of  its  enjoyment,  the  quiet  of 
death  becomes  a  last  and  unfailing  refuge 

Thus  fared  it  with  the  maidens  and  matrons  of 
America.  Their  self-denial,  alone,  had  availed  to 
maintain  an  army  long  after  it  must  have  fallen, 
exhausted,  without  their  aid.  But  the  effort  had 
made  them  martyrs.  They  chose  to  perish,  that 
the  army  might  survive  to  emancipate  their  coun- 
try. The  courage  which  was  far  too  human  and 
too  generous  to  hurl  destruction  from  the  can- 
non's mouth  into  the  ranks  of  a  foe,  and  far  too 
gentle  to  withstand  the  brutal  carnage  of  battle, 
was  yet  so  fearless  of  the  visitation  of  death  that 
it  shrank  not  even  from  the  agonies  of  death  by 
famine,  when  the  dictates  of  duty  seemed  to  de- 
mand the  sacrifice. 

And  famine  was  at  lenQfth  abroad,  and  the 
tidings  of  its  ravages  were  afloat  on  every  rumor. 
Before  it  the  aged  and  the  youth  were  alike  pow- 
erless, the  while  gentle  allies  of  the  begrimed  sol- 
dier of  the  camp  were  falling  by  thousands  before 
a  foe  more  deadly  in  its  onslaughts  than  even  the 
myriad  horde  of  the  invaders.  Death  by  starva- 
tion, with  all  its  countless  delusions  and  its  name- 
less horrors,  had  begun  to  add  new  torments  to 
the  terrors  of  the  siesfe.  Some  there  were  that 
sank  by  the  highways  or  in  the   snow-clad  fields, 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  24 1 

whither,  in  their  delirium,  they  had  strayed  to  feast 
upon  the  bounties  which  a  disordered  imagination 
had  spread  before  them  ;  others  there  were  that 
sought  relief  in  the  refuge  of  the  suicide.  As  the 
mirage,  that  rises  from  the  desert  to  mock  the 
thirst  of  the  wanderer  lost  upon  its  arid  expanse, 
so  started  into  being  whole  armies  and  proces- 
sions of  phantoms  from  this  waste  of  woe  to  mock 
with  visions  of  profusion  and  luxury  the  one  con- 
suming necessity  of  life.  Every  unattainable  desire 
became  individualized  and  personified,  and  the  im- 
apfination  reveled  in  scenes  that  often  served  to 
neutralize  the  pangs  of  suffering,  and  to  smooth 
the  pathway  to  the  grave. 

How  pitiless  becomes  the  demon  of  Famine 
when  once  the  conditions  for  its  sway  have  been 
attained  ;  but  how  well  adapted  to  soothe  the  tor- 
ments which  it  inflicts  are  those  munificent  treas- 
ures of  the  imaorination,  that  gfrow  brigfhter  and 
more  apparently  real  as  the  system  totters  to  ruin! 
Feasts,  spread  out  with  all  the  luxuries  ever  pic- 
tured b)'  fact  or  by  fable,  are  ever  in  view,  as  the 
body  proceeds  to  pre}'  upon  its  own  tissue.  Portly 
waiters  and  lively  guests  come  and  go,  laugh  and 
chat,  dine  and  assist  others  to  dine  ;  the  wine 
sparkles  in  the  goblets  ;  song  resounds  ;  toasts  go 
round  ;  and  the  quests  retire,  and  others  succeed 
them  in  one  eternal  round.  The  famishing  dream- 
er  sees  all,  and  to  him  all  is  real.  Only  happy 
faces   are  there  ;  all  are  strangfers  ;    but   in  their 

16 


242  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

conversation  were  mentioned  the  names  of  those 
he  had  known.  Occasionally  a  glance  wanders  to 
his  retreat,  but  is  again  calmly  diverted  or  with- 
drawn. He  might  have  mingled  with  the  throng, 
but  forever  some  trifling  obstacle  intervened. 
New  scenes  present  themselves  if  he  turn  from 
this,  and  abundance  marks  every  festival. 

Another  victim  of  the  same  cruel  lot  gazes  upon 
illimitable  forests  hung  with  golden  fruits  that 
stretch  out  before  her  vision,  far  as  the  eye  can 
reach.  Groping  crowds  wander  listlessly  among 
its  shadows,  or  settle  themselves  upon  rustic 
benches  to  feast  upon  its  bounties,  pendant  from 
every  branch.  Now  she  wishes  to  pass  unnoticed 
into  the  throng,  and  partake  of  this  abundance  that 
seems  spread  for  all  ;  but  ever  some  obstacle,  tri- 
fling in  itself,  but  quite  insuperable,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, is  interposed.  In  chagrin  the  dreamer 
turns  from  the  contemplation  of  the  scene.  But 
now  she  is  observed.  A  few  individuals  have  di- 
vided themselves  from  the  rest,  and  approach  the 
spot  where  she  sits.  Her  first  impulse  is  to  fly  ; 
but  no  !  There  is  the  impress  of  serious  purpose 
upon  each  kindly  face.  Again  her  alarm  increases 
as  the  visitors  draw  yet  nearer  ;  but  it  were  now 
useless  to  retreat.  They  have  come,  they  say,  to 
remove  all  those  obstacles  to  her  enjoyment;  and, 
returning  again,  they  beckon  her  to  follow.  She 
hesitates,  but  is  drifted  forward  by  some  myster- 
ious impulse  of  command.     The  last  obstacle  is 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  243 

removed  ;  she  passes  to  newer  scenes — the  dream- 
er's record  is  closed  forever.  Another  corse  has 
fallen  by  the  way  ;  the  earth  her  couch ;  the  beau- 
tiful snow  her  winding  sheet — a  fitting  emblem  of 
the  soul  that  has  fled. 

From  boundary  to  boundary  the  country  is 
wasted.  The  granaries  are  empty  ;  the  store- 
houses reprove,  by  their  empty  walls,  the  vaunted 
productiveness  of  the  soil.  The  farm-yard  no 
longer  echoes  to  the  noisy  hum  of  domestication; 
the  roar  of  the  citv  and  its  bustlinof  thrones  have 
alike  vanished.  The  sounds  of  labor  are  hushed, 
and  scenes  that  erst  had  run^  with  the  thousfhtless 
revelry  of  youth  are  noiseless  now,  except  as  they 
give  tongues  to  the  driving  storms  that  proclaim 
the  reign  of  Winter.  Dismantled  buildings,  whose 
timbers  have  furnished  fuel  to  comfort,  with  artifi- 
cial warmth,  the  last  hours  of  noble  lives,  stand 
like  the  ruins  of  another  age.  Ghastly  human  fig- 
ures drag  themselves  from  place  to  place,  aimless- 
ly directing  their  tottering  footsteps  onward  and 
still  onward,  they  know  not  whither.  Some  are 
crouched  upon  the  earth  ;  and,  having  stripped 
the  snow  from  its  bosom,  with  bloodless  hands, 
struggle  with  the  frost-bound  soil  for  the  posses- 
sion of  roots  or  grasses.  Others  strive  to  subsist 
upon  the  twigs  and  branches  of  trees  ;  but  one  by 
one  they  sink  down  exhausted  ;  night  sets  in,  and 
his  dusky  mantle  shuts  out  the  last  glimmering 
of  day,  as  it  noiselessly  falls  upon  this  drama  of 


244  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

death.     Another  hearth  is  desolate  ;   another  day- 
has  folded  up  its  round  of  mortality. 

But  how  fared  it  with  the  army,  meantime  ?  By 
a  slow,  but  certain  process,  the  country  had  given 
up  all — even  its  very  life — to  maintain  in  the  field 
an  army  capable  of  repelling  the  enemy  at  what- 
ever direction  he  might  attempt  to  advance.  The 
army  had  done  its  duty.  The  expectant  invader, 
still,  after  the  struggle  had  been  prolonged  for 
years,  saw  before  him  yet,  the  bristling  lines  of 
the  enemy.  He  knew  nothing  of  the  condition  of 
that  army  ;  it  was  sufficient  that  it  was  still  as 
menacing  in  its  appearance  as  it  had  been  in  any 
period  of  the  past.  But,  worse  than  this,  it  was 
invincible.  Of  that  he  was  satisfied  ;  for  as  yet 
he  had  not  obtained  his  first  victory,  although  he 
had  chronicled  a  hundred  battles. 

But  famine  first,  and  after  that,  disease,  found 
its  way  into  the  ranks  of  the  army,  and  then  this 
last  bulwark  of  liberty  began  to  totter.  Having 
exhausted  the  country,  the  army  now  began  to 
exhaust  itself.  First,  the  cavalry  horses  were 
slauehtered  to  furnish  food  to  the  soldiers  ;  then 
followed  the  slaughter  of  all  draught  animals ;  and, 
lastly,  even  the  vagabond  dogs,  that  subsisted 
upon  the  refuse  of  the  camps,  were  killed  and 
eaten,  that  the  soldier  might  live  to  defend  his 
country,  yet  another  day. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

National   and    Army    Diet War   and   Agriculture    at    the 

South Occupation    of    American   Prisoners    of   War 

The   Chinese    Army    in    New    England Hunger    and    its 

Influence The  Beginning  of  the  End The  First  Mon- 

GOLiAN  Victory Pillage March  of  the  Conqueror 

Washington  in  Danger The  Soldiers'  Reflection The 

Last  Stronghold. 

Owing  in  some  degree  to  the  comparatively 
simple  wants  of  the  Asiatic  soldier,  considered  in 
connection  with  those  of  the  American,  but  chiefly 
to  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  an  uninterrupted 
communication  between  the  army  and  China,  and 
to  the  productiveness  of  the  rice  fields  of  the 
Southern  States,  the  invading  army  suffered  but 
little  inconvenience  from  the  lack  of  the  usual  and 
necessary  supply  of  food. 

Among  the  Chinese,  animal  food  cannot  prop- 
erly be  said  to  be  a  part  of  the  national  diet  ;  so 
that  subsistence  with  them  is  in  no  degree  con- 
tingent upon  the  extent  of  their  flocks  and  herds. 
And  yet,  these  people  are  capable  of  enduring  the 
utmost  toil  and  the  most  unremitting  labor,  with- 
out manifesting  the  usual  symptoms  of  exhaustion. 

Compared  with  the  ordinary  associations  of  life 


246  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

among  the  Chinese,  the  hardships  incident  to  the 
life  of  the  soldier  are  inconsiderable.  Then,  too, 
there  was  nothing-  in  the  climate  of  the  Southern 
States  so  essentially  different  from  that  of  China 
as  to  render  any  change  of  the  national  diet  neces- 
sary ;  so  that  rice  and  tea  were  about  the  only 
articles  of  iood  furnished  the  Mongolian  army,  and 
of  the  former  nearly  every  pound  consumed  was 
produced  in  the  conquered  territory,  only  the  tea 
and  necessary  clothing  having  to  be  imported  from 
abroad. 

The  government  of  the  Viceroy  had  been  care- 
ful that  no  opportunity  should  be  lost  in  a  matter 
of  so  much  importance  as  the  maintenance  of  his 
armies.  With  a  view  to  the  most  economic  and 
effective  manner  of  securing  this  end,  a  full  com- 
plement of  laborers  was  kept  constantly  at  work 
producing  such  articles  of  consumption  as  might 
be  necessary  for  the  use  of  the  army  and  the 
maintenance  of  the  prisoners  which  he  still  re- 
tained. Of  these  latter,  the  men  were  compelled 
to  work,  side  by  side,  with  the  ordinary  Coolie 
laborer,  at  whatsoever  drudgery  the  latter  might 
have  in  hand,  while  their  health  or  strength  per- 
mitted, which  was  usually  a  very  brief  period  at 
certain  unfavorable  seasons,  and  never  at  any  sea- 
son a  period  of  great  duration. 

The  simplicity  of  the  diet  furnished  to  the 
Asiatic  soldiery,  and  its  adaptability  to  the  hered- 
itary physical  constitution  of  the  Chinese  people 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        247 

had  the  most  salutary  effect  upon  the  heahh  of 
the  army,  so  that  while  disease  and  famine  were 
devastating  the  ranks  of  the  Americans,  the  Mon- 
golian forces  were  in  the  enjoyment  of  health  and 
abundance. 

This  condition  is,  however,  subject  to  one  quali- 
fication which  will  apply  solely  to  those  of  the 
Chinese  troops  in  the  occupation  of  the  New 
England  States.  These  had  subsisted  upon  stores 
captured  at  the  opening  of  the  rebellion,  together 
with  such  supplies  as  were  subsequently  surrepti- 
tiously forwarded  to  them  by  fictitious  consign- 
ments from  the  ports  of  Georgia  and  South  Caro- 
lina, and  before  the  American  navy  had  been 
fitted  up  for  coast  service,  and  afterwards,  before 
the  true  nature  of  the  traffic  had  been  detected. 
But  those  supplies  were  at  length  becoming  scarce, 
while  all  communication  with  the  South  was  cut 
off  by  the  troops  of  the  Republic  by  land,  and  by 
her  navy  by  sea.  This  circumstance,  by  bringino- 
to  the  surface  the  true  nature  of  the  individual 
Mongolian,  infused  a  new  spirit  into  the  Mon- 
golian army  at  the  east,  and  introduced  a  new 
element  into  the  strueele. 

The  same  causes  that  operated  to  enervate  the 
martial  spirit  of  the  European  race,  produced  the 
directly  opposite  effect  upon  the  Asiatic.  No 
sooner  had  it  become  necessary  to  place  a  re- 
stricted limit  upon  the  quantity  of  food  furnished 
to  the  American  soldier  than  the  result  became 


248  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

plainly  apparent  in  his  lack  of  ambition  and  his 
waning  efficiency.  But  in  the  ranks  of  the  Asiatics 
the  first  effect  of  hunger  was  to  kindle  the  native 
ferocity  of  the  soldier  into  a  furious  and  ungovern- 
able flame  of  action. 

In  this  will  appear  the  essentially  different  at- 
tributes of  the  contending  races.  With  the  former 
the  principle  for  which  he  contends  is  the  highest 
incentive  to  endeavor,  and  his  efforts  fail  only  as 
fail  the  physical  powers  by  which  they  are  sus- 
tained. With  the  latter,  the  whole  endeavor  of 
which  he  is  capable  is  liberated  only  by  an  un- 
answerable appeal  to  his  animal  nature. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  New  England  army  of  oc- 
cupation, finding  its  supplies  approaching  an  ex- 
tremity, determined  to  effect  a  junction  with  the 
main  body  of  the  army  of  the  south.  To  do  this  it 
was  determined  to  march  directly  from  New  York 
along  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Alleghanies,  and 
connect  with  the  main  army  in  Virginia. 

This  resolution  was  taken  at  a  time  when  famine 
and  disease  had  begun  to  devastate  the  soldiers  of 
the  Republic.  The  commander  in  New  England 
found  means  of  communicating  his  purpose  to  the 
army  of  the  south,  and  the  latter  at  once  took 
upon  itself  the  work  of  co-operation. 

At  the  appointed  time  the  aggressive  force  of 
the  New  England  army,  numbering  more  than  half 
a  million  of  men,  moved  forward  and  engaged  the 
American  lines,  extending  from  the  northeastern 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.        249 

boundary  line  of  Pennsylvania  northward  through 
the  State  of  New  York.  About  the  same  time 
the  southern  army  once  more  advanced  and  en- 
gaged the  Americans,  this  time  near  Petersburg, 
in  Virginia.  Here  an  obstinate  and  bloody  strug- 
gle resulted  in  the  withdrawal  of  the  attacking 
columns,  to  make  preparations  for  a  renewal  of 
the  attack.  But  the  induced  ferocity  of  the  north- 
ern, or  New  England,  army  had  accomplished 
what  neither  superior  numbers  nor  the  skill  nor 
courage  of  the  best  armies  of  China  had  heretofore 
at  any  point  etlected.  The  eastern  division  of 
the  Republican  guardsmen  was  cut  to  pieces,  and 
the  first  victory  in  the  held  had  at  length  rewarded 
the  obstinate  purpose  of  the  invaders.  No  pris- 
oners were  taken,  as  no  man  surrendered.  It  was 
a  victory  which  carried  with  it  the  extermination 
of  an  army. 

The  victorious  troops  now  took  up  their  line  of 
march  toward  the  south,  leavinof  the  whole  eastern 
frontier  of  the  hitherto  unconquered  States  open 
to  the  ravages  of  the  soldiery,  which  was  now  in 
the  occupation  of  the  newly-conquered  territory. 
But  little,  indeed,  was  presented  to  arouse  the 
cupidity  of  the  Asiatic  soldiery.  The  wretched 
inhabitants  \vho  had  thus  far  escaped  the  ravages 
of  famine  and  disease,  fled  to  the  interior,  regard- 
less of  whatever  dangers  or  hardships  might  befall, 
and  intent  only  upon  escaping  from  the  unknown 
horrors  of  capture.     Fortunately  for  those  defence- 


2.50  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

less  fugitives,  however,  the  demand  for  food  had 
stifled  all  the  more  brutal  passions  of  the  con- 
querors, so  that  little  or  no  effort  was  put  forth 
to  procure  their  capture.  But  the  work  of  pillage 
was  prosecuted  with  spirit.  All  articles  of  cloth- 
ing, as  well  as  all  articles  convertible  into  food, 
that  came  within  the  reach  of  the  soldiers,  were 
confiscated  and  carried  to  their  encampment. 

The  victorious  army  now  enjoyed  an  uninter- 
rupted march  through  Penns3dvania  to  the  borders 
of  Maryland.  At  Philadelphia  the  Chinese  pris- 
oners of  war,  taken  at  the  opening  of  the  contest, 
were  liberated,  and  served  to  reinforce  the  advan- 
cinof  columns. 

The  news  of  the  defeat  and  annihilation  of  the 
Republican  army  of  the  east  was  scattered,  in  a 
brief  period  of  time,  throughout  the  whole  of  the 
American  forces,  and  spread  the  greatest  dismay 
and  apprehension.  The  capital  was  a  scene  of  the 
wildest  confusion,  which  was  further  intensified  by 
the  reports  that  the  victorious  army  was  marching 
southward,  and  even  now  approaching  the  borders 
of  Maryland,  on  its  way  to  Washington.  Al- 
though garrisoned  by  a  large  army,  yet  additional 
troops  were  immediately  ordered  from  all  points, 
to  proceed,  by  forced  marches,  to  the  relief  of  the 
city.  The  army  of  central  Virginia  began  imme- 
diately to  fall  back,  in  obedience  to  orders  from 
Washington,  but  pressed  so  closely  by  the  enemy 
that  the  commander  was  compelled  to   abandon 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  25 1 

his  heavier  artillery,  which  was  first  spiked  and 
then  left  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The 
retreat  continued  several  days,  until  a  large  part  of 
the  army  had  crossed  the  Potomac. 

Meantime  their  success  at  the  east  had  begun 
to  stimulate  the  whole  Chinese  army.  Every  part 
began  to  vie  with  every  other  in  prosecuting  a  vig- 
orous campaign  against  the  now  famishing  forces 
of  the  Republic.  Of  these  latter  the  shattered 
remnant  that  was  left  was  no  longer  a  match  for 

o 

the  innumerable  swarm  that  now  swept  in  upon 
them  from  every  side. 

The  character  of  the  war  had  underofone  a 
change.  It  was  no  longer  a  succession  of  battles, 
but  a  slaughter — or  more  properly  a  war  of  exter- 
mination. The  soldiers  of  the  Republic  refused  all 
terms  of  capitulation.  They  saw,  with  a  feeling 
that  finds  no  expression  in  the  poverty  of  uttered 
language,  the  land  that  their  fathers  had  wrested 
from  the  primeval  forests  and  inhospitable  wilder- 
ness of  the  New  World,  and  erected  into  the  most 
glorious,  and  one  among  the  most  powerful,  inde- 
pendencies upon  the  globe — a  land  whose  liber- 
ties, whose  power,  whose  wealth,  whose  enlight- 
enment, were  theirs  by  creation,  and  which  had 
known  no  civilization  other  than  their  own — saw 
all  this  already  hurled  beneath  the  tread  of  the 
rude  conquerer.  They  saw  their  holy  flag,  no 
longer  the  emblem  of  a  nation,  and  as  powerless 
to  protect  as  it  was  impotent  to  save,  supplanted 


252  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

by  a  barbarous  device  of  a  barbarous  age.  They 
had  never  feh  the  yoke  of  the  conquerer,  and  the 
experiment  was  too  degrading  to  be  entertained. 
Their  loss  was  irreparable.  Kindred,  as  well  as 
country,  had  gone  ;  the  one  swept  by  famine,  the 
other  by  the  sword.  The  destruction  was  com- 
plete. It  only  remained  for  the  soldier  of  the  Re- 
public to  show  the  world  how  a  patriot  could  die. 

There  was  no  longer  a  Republican  army  of  the 
west.  It  had  fallen  and  become  engulfed  in  the 
irresistible  torrent  of  numbers  ;  and  the  last  of  the 
States  so  lately  free  were  opened  up  to  the  march 
of  conquest.  But  the  Capital  remained,  and  there 
the  whole  American  army  was  now  concentrated. 
On  the  north  the  lines  of  the  enemy  extended 
from  Baltimore  to  Harper's  Ferry,  and  on  the 
southeast  they  had  reached  the  Potomac.  On  the 
southwest  they  pressed  forward  within  a  few  miles 
of  Washington  City. 

To  this  small  area  were  now  confined  all  of  the 
territory  that  remained,  and  all  that  remained  of 
the  independence  and  the  nationality  of  the  Amer- 
ican Republic  ;  and  to  this  were  likewise  circum- 
scribed all  the  passions,  emotions,  vices,  virtues 
and  suffering,  precipitated  by  the  most  destructive 
war  that  ever  stained  the  records  of  the  human 
race. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

The  New  Government An  Imperial  Edict Mongolian  Con- 
servatism  Aid  to  the  Sufferers The  Last  Combat 

A  Programme  that  failed  of  Execution The  Western 

Empire Farewell  Reflections The  End. 

The  same  wise  conservatism  in  the  affairs  of 
government  which  has  ever  marked  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Emperors  of  China,  and  which 
clothed  the  Chinese  people  with  the  advantages 
of  civilization  while  Europe  was  yet  a  wilderness, 
was  made  the  policy  of  the  conquerors  in  America, 
now  that  the  success  of  their  arms  had  been  as- 
sured, and  the  Republic  had  begun  to  yield  to  the 
pressure  of  the  invasion. 

The  tidings  of  the  first  Mongolian  victory  and 
its  immediate  consequences  had  no  sooner  reached 
the  Viceroy,  than  he  put  forth  his  decree,  in  the 
name  of  the  Emperor,  commanding,  in  effect,  that 
no  subject  of  the  Empire,  under  pain  of  death, 
should  commit  any  acts  of  violence  upon  the  per 
son  or  against  the  property  of  anyone  heretofore 
a  subject  of  the  United  States,  and  not  now  under 
arms  ;  and  further  commanding,  that  in  every  case 
in  which  property  had  been  confiscated  by  the 
army,  in  ignorance  of  the    Imperial   pleasure,  as 


2  54  LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

herein  first  promulgated,  that  the  same,  or  its 
equivalent,  should  be  restored  to  the  owner.  It 
was  further  ordered  that  this  decree  be  proclaimed 
throughout  the  whole  of  His  Majesty's  Western 
Empire,  and  translated  into  all  the  languages 
thereof. 

The  publication  of  this  order  was  most  oppor- 
tune. Unlike  the  decrees  emanatino-  from  the 
Republican  government,  in  the  past — which  were 
often  made  the  playthings  of  courts  of  justice,  and 
even  of  individuals  whose  wealth,  and  consequent 
influence,  had  so  often  elevated  them  above  the 
laws — the  decrees  of  the  Emperor  of  China  were 
as  inexorable  as  those  of  Destiny.  Of  the  con- 
sequences and  the  penalty  of  an  infraction,  there 
was  no  evasion  possible.  Of  its  language  all  were 
compelled  to  take  due  notice  and  make  proper 
construction  at  their  peril.  There  were  no  refine- 
ments of  procedure  through  the  meshes  of  which 
the  guilty  might  escape,  and  no  *'  reasonable 
doubts  "  to  bewilder  the  understanding  of  a  Judge 
or  jury.  As  a  rule  of  enforcement,  the  generous 
maxims  of  our  humane  system  of  jurisprudence 
were  often  reversed  ;  for,  with  them,  it  were  better 
that  ten  innocent  persons  should  suffer  than  that 
the  lawful  decrees  of  the  sovereign  should  fail  of 
enforcement. 

The  government  of  a  people  under  laws  of  this 
character,  and  who  have  been  educated  to  recog- 
nize the  temper,  becomes   a   matter   of  obvious 


LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  255 

easiness  ;  and  the  conduct  of  the  army  in  its  rela- 
tions with  those  of  the  inhabitants  who  had  sur- 
vived the  vicissitudes  of  the  war,  showed  how 
well,  even  the  humblest  Coolie  understood  the 
imperative  nature  of  the  Imperial  command. 

No  sooner  had  unrestricted  inter-communication 
between  the  north  and  the  south  been  estab- 
lished, by  the  destruction  of  the  western  army 
of  the  Republic,  and  the  fact  of  the  general  desti- 
tution of  the  country  been  ascertained,  than  the 
Viceroy  ordered  the  immediate  transmittal  of  pro- 
visions to  the  north,  and  their  free  distribution 
among  the  people.  Numerous  supply  depots  were 
established  at  the  most  available  points  for  distri- 
bution, and  the  proud  Causcasian  was  at  length 
compelled  to  accept  the  necessaries  of  life,  as  a 
charitable  donation,  from  the  hands  of  the  Monofo- 
lian  ;  or,  failing  to  do  so,  choose  the  alternative  of 
starvation.  These  measures  of  relief  havine  been 
at  length  carried  to  practical  perfection,  the  new 
government  turned  its  attention  to  the  unfinished 
work  of  conquest. 

A  trace  of  the  Republic  still  remained  in  the 
defiant  attitude  of  the  Capital.  For  the  purpose 
of  reducing  this  last  stronghold,  it  was  deemed  in- 
expedient as  well  as  unnecessary  to  involve  a 
further  destruction  of  life  by  any  further  conflict  of 
arms;  and  hence  it  was  resolved  to  await  a  pro- 
posal to  surrender,  when  famine  should  have  so 
far  completed  the  conquest  that  arms  had  begun. 


256  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

All  communication  with  the  outside  having  been 
cut  off  by  the  investing  army,  the  fate  of  the 
army  of  the  west  had  not  been  made  known  at 
the  Capital ;  otherwise,  it  might  have  proposed, 
or  accepted  terms  of  capitulation.  But,  believing 
that  the  west  was  still  protected,  and  finding  the 
supplies  of  army  stores  and  provisions  about  ex- 
hausted, it  was  determined  to  abandon  the  Capital 
to  its  fate,  cut  through  the  lines  of  the  enemy,  and 
effect  a  junction  with  the  western  division. 

Accordingly,  in  reply  to  a  summons  to  surren- 
der the  city,  the  besieged  contracted  their  lines  on 
the  south  and  east,  and  engaged  the  investing 
army  on  the  west.  But  the  mistake  was  fatal  to 
the  life  of  the  army,  as  well  as  to  its  already  hope- 
less cause.  Once  removed  from  the  protection  of 
their  fortifications,  the  troops  became  exposed  to 
the  fire  of  overwhelming  numbers  on  every  side. 
Half  the  army  had  fallen,  and  the  work  of  de- 
struction continued.  The  veteran  Generals  in 
command  refused  to  surrender,  and  not  until  the 
President,  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  the  army, 
raised  the  insignia  of  capitulation,  and  commanded 
the  surrender,  did  the  troops  lay  down  their  arms. 

Meantime  the  conquerors  had  entered  the  Capi- 
tal. The  Republic  had  fought  its  last  battle;  and 
the  Imperial  Dragon  of  China  already  floated  from 
the  dome  of  the  Capitol. 

The  very  name  of  the  United  States  of  America 
was  thus  blotted  from  the  record  of  nations  and 


LAST   DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.  257 

peoples,  as  unworthy  the  poor  boon  of  existence. 
Where  once  the  proud  domain  of  forty  States,  be- 
sides milhons  of  miles  of  unorganized  territory, 
cultivated  the  arts  of  peace  and  gave  to  the  world 
its  brightest  gems  of  literature,  art  and  scientific 
discovery,  the  Temple  of  Liberty  had  crumbled  ; 
and  above  its  ruins  was  reared  the  colossal  fabric 
of  barbaric  splendor  known  as  the  Western  Em- 
pire of  his  August  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  China 
and  Ruler  of  all  lands. 

Forever  occupied  and  diverted  by  its  factions 
and  its  politicians,  in  their  local  intrigues  for  the 
acquisition  of  political  power,  the  Ship  of  State 
sailed  proudly  on,  too  blinded  by  her  preoccupa- 
tion and  too  reliant  in  her  strength  to  bestow  a 
thought  upon  the  perils  of  the  sea.  She  sighted 
afar  the  foam  of  the  maelstrom,  and  tossed  her 
haughty  pennants  in  sovereign  disdain  of  its 
power.  But  its  current  was  around  her,  and  she 
glided  unconsciously  to  her  doom.  In  vain  the 
exercise  of  her  giant  strength ;  in  vain  that  her 
factions,  in  happy  forgetfulness  of  their  petty  an- 
tipathies, united  their  powers  to  save !  Too  late  ! 
She  was  hurled,  helpless  and  struggling,  to  ruin 
and  annihilation  ;  and  as  she  sank,  engulfed,  she 
carried  with  her  the  prestige  of  a  race  ;  for  in 
America  the  representatives  of  the  one  race  of 
man,  which,  in  its  relation  to  the  family  of  men, 
had  borne  upon  its  crest  the  emblem  of  sovereign 
power  since  the  dawn  of  history,  saw  now  the  an- 

'7 


258  LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

cestral  diadem  plucked  from  its  proud  repose,  to 
shed  its  lustre  upon  an  alien  crown.  Thus  passed 
away  the  glory  of  the  Union  of  States,  at  the 
dawn  of  the  Twentieth  Century. 


THE   END. 


